History Repeats, Almost
by Tsukiko AlienWitch
Summary: After four years since the battle, the aliens come back to crash a congratulations party and few days later, Ichigo gets pregnant. 17 years later, everyone has kids. Now three new aliens appear and it's Tokyo Mew Mew again, almost
1. How It Started

**A/N: Okay, I was bored and I suddenly got this idea struck in my head. Since one of my stories is almost done, I just thought that I should give you all a sneak peek of this new story. Just to let you know, I was thinking about a really desperate scene and this story will have that but later on. I needed a story line for that desperate scene so I made this one up. If anyone made a story similar to this, I did not read it, I swear to god! Just check my favorites. When I read a story I like, I favorite and I usually pick stories that 'call out to me' for say.**

**I do NOT own TMM or the songs I used in my stories. Thank you all for the wonderful reviews and please keep them coming. Thank you and please enjoy this new story I have for all of you! Yeeeeaaaa!!"**

**History Repeats, Almost**

Ch. 1: How It Started

"Congratulations!!" everyone cheers.

17-year old Ichigo just giggles. She tells her friends, "Everyone, thank you! But you didn't have to do this."

17-year old Lettuce tells her, "Of course we do, Ichigo-san. You got into the collage you wanted and you'll be able to get closer to Aoyama-san. We want to congratulate on your hard work."

17-year old Mint says, "But I must say that I am surprise that they accepted you. Maybe they made a mistake on your tests."

20-year old Ryou agrees, "I couldn't agree more." Two veins appeared on Ichigo's head, pulsing.

She asks, "I thought we were here to celebrate, not for you to make sarcastic comments."

24-year old Keiichiro faces Ryou and calls, "Ryou." Almost like he's scold him with his gentle, sweet voice; like that helps.

20-year old Zakuro, however tells Mint and Ryou, "Mint, Ryou! Be nice. This is a special day for Ichigo. We need to support her."

Mint, getting enchanted by Zakuro's words of wisdom, answers, "Yes, onee-sama," while Ryou only looks away in almost disappointment on how Mint suddenly acted. As surprising at how Mint is so easily moved, Ichigo lets out a sigh of relief. Thank you, Zakuro!

16-year old Pudding cheers, "Enough talk! The club looks fun, the music is good, and the drinks are cold! Gumbai!" She raises her glass and the others soon fallows.

They cheer, "Gumbai!" They all click their glasses together and then choked them down; Zakuro and Mint – tonic water, Lettuce – ice tea, Pudding – juice, and Ryou, Keiichiro, and Ichigo – sake. Right now, the whole gang is at a nice, dancing club and they're here for a congratulations part for Ichigo on getting into the college she has spent months studying for.

It's been four years since the Tokyo Mew Mew battle between the aliens and things look like they are heading up hill for the most part. The café is still very popular and is still a place where high school students would come after cramming in school or for anyone who have a sweet tooth. Even though everyone is no longer a Mew Mew, they still come to work to just be able to relive those peaceful crazy days, but without the hassle of running off somewhere to fight off aliens. Since the aliens left, they haven't gotten any news on how they were doing. The Mew Mews do wonder sometimes if things are okay now since they have the remaining Mew Aqua, at least that's what everyone told Ichigo since she was still 'dead' when they left.

For two of those peaceful years, Ichigo and Masaya were finally having a normal relationship. No ears or tail popping up when she's getting excited during a date, no turning into a cat when she gets kissed, and no running off during dates to save the world or coming too late for a date. Ichigo is the one being early and both her boyfriend and her have had their dates to the fullest. But when they were studying for high school, Masaya wasn't studying for the same high school Ichigo was applying. He was studying for a high school in England. His parents were moving and he had to go with him. He said that he doesn't want to go but the high school they have there are really good on environmental subjects. He wants to learn that but he will be sad that he will be apart from Ichigo. Ichigo was devastated about him leaving but smiled and supported him all the way. But right before he went, both of them finally did it and she was happy about it. She was happy that she was at least able to do it once with him before she won't be able to see him for a long time. Ever since then, she has been studying hard in high school to make him proud and to be with him in college.

Mint has been very successful in her dancing. In one year, she has been asked to be the prima donna of very famous ballets at least eight times; Romeo and Juliet, Swan Lake, Giselle, Sleeping Beauty, the Nutcracker, etc,. But between her busy schedule, she always seem to have time to come to the café and relax with tea while Ichigo goes crazy with the customers. Her bond with Zakuro has also gotten deeper, to the point where they can have private lunches in between their busy schedules. At least once or twice, Zakuro would come down to see Mint's performances as Mint would get lucky enough to watch Zakuro rehearse for a movie or see her fashion shows. There was something else too. Mint and Ryou started going out since Mint has started her high school year. They do go on dinners from time to time and both of them have really enjoyed it. They have so much in common to begin with anyway, such as making Ichigo work harder during her hours and making snobbish or mean comments towards her.

Lettuce used to have a crush on Ryou but after hearing that Mint and Ryou are going out, she gave up on him. Besides, her crush seemed to have died soon after the battle was over. Right now, she's just good friends with Ryou and supported Mint all the way. During the years since the battle, Lettuce has been a growing her confidence a lot. In school, she is studying about marine biology to learn more about the water life and how to save it. She volunteers at the library on the weekends and works at the café on the week days.

Pudding has also been successful. When she interrupted a circus show at the doom, since she was unable to in the beginning, she gained a lot of money for her show and she was nearly arrested. She also got a contract from those same circus people to perform in her show. She only did it as long as they stayed in Japan and close to home. From tips at the café and the money she earned from the show, she was happy because she was making a fortune. The only problem was that her friends were worried if she was over doing it like the last time. She was still healthy and did her best not to overdo it. When the show left, she stayed. She still had a responsibility to her family. So the money amount was less than the money she was making before but she didn't mind at all. As long as there was food on the table and her siblings were happy, she didn't mind it in the least.

Zakuro, like Mint, has become very successful in her career. From time to time, she would have to leave Japan for a little while to go to the mainland and do a photo shoot or a movie but that was only at least twice or once a year. Over the years, she learned to smile more in public and to even laugh for real. She was coming out of her hard mask shell and that was a major improvement. However, she was still silent and less emotional than the others. While she had lunch with Mint and her job at the café, she got some time to date Keiichiro and they have been dating for at least three years. He was kind to her and respected her like a perfect gentlemen. All the more, he understood her busy schedule and didn't complain. That made Zakuro happy because she was worried if she could ever fall in love with her career and her traveling.

After gulping down the drinks, everyone put the glasses down and Ichigo was shaking her head like she was shaking off the sensation of the sake. She says, "Wow! That was interesting."

"Just don't have too much," Mint tells her. "Don't want you drunk on the first day you tried alcohol. It might look bad on your record."

Ichigo tells her, "Oh come on, Mint! I'm not as dumb as to get drunk. I'll just have two or three more shots of sake and I'm done. It's my congratulations party and I intend to live it up!"

"Oh now, she's using the party as an excuse," Ryou comments. Keiichiro's face was a pleaded for Ryou not to go too far.

Then Pudding looks at her watch and then she looks all over the café. Finally she notes, "They're late!" Everyone looks at her in surprise.

Lettuce asks, "Who's late?"

"Friends you invited to crash the party?" Mint asks.

Pudding smiles and winks. She points her finger to the ceiling and puts it in front of her lips and answers, "Yep, but their identity is a secret until they come."

Ichigo whines, "Ah, Pudding! Come on, tell us! Who did you invite? A boy?"

"Pudding!!"

Everyone but Pudding jumped on their chairs after hearing that voice. Pudding looks over Ichigo's shoulders and smiles even brighter. She jumps off her chair and runs towards the voice. Everyone fallows her and sees three unexpected people.

Pudding calls, "Taru-Taru!" She jumps on him and he nearly falls backwards as she gives him a hug attack.

"Aah! Pudding!" he complains, catching himself. He tells her, "Don't do that! I nearly fell over."

The other unexpected guy goes up to him and says, "But you would have loved that."

"Wouldn't you?" the other asked. The one who asked starts laughing as the other is smiling. All the while, Taruto is red and he looks crazy embarrassed as Pudding is still clinging to him.

Taruto, Pai, and Kisshu. It's them, it's really them and they look human. All of the Mew Mews are shocked to see them. They barely changed at all. Yes, they look older and a lot taller, especially Taruto, but their looks are still the same. All three still have the same hair style and are wearing their favorite style of clothing and color.

Kisshu looks like he could be 18 or 19-years old now and he still has his short dark emerald green hair with the strands in front of his now human ears longer and are tied by a dark red bandage. He's wearing at the moment, long black jean material pants that just reach his ankles. The pants are hanging on his hips and his shirt is short so it bares his midriff. The shirt is also a black turtle neck sleeveless shirt and under it is another shirt that's green, made of thin material, and is still short like the turtle neck. They could be connected.

Pai seems to be at least 20 or 21-years old and his hair is the same as the day since they left; short except for the hair strands in front of his left ear that are braided now. He's wearing long dark purple pants that look more like dress pants than anything. His top is also a dark purple color and it's a sleeveless turtle neck like Kisshu's shirt. But instead of bearing his stomach, he has a thin light purple shirt that looks tucked in. On his arms are also dark purple arm warmers that go from his ankle to three inches past his elbow.

Taruto not only looks like he had a massive growth spurge but he looks like he could be 16-years old, probably. He still has his orange hair up in two pony tails on both sides of his head; as much as hair that can stay up there. What he's wearing is interesting. He has medium shade of blue jeans on and they look longer than his own legs. They don't hang like Kisshu's pants but it's still short enough to pass his belly button. Unlike his friends that are wearing a turtle neck shirt, he's wearing a short red thin shirt that bare his stomach and it's under a knee length sleeveless dark blue jacket. The jacket has a stiff collar that hides his neck like a turtle neck shirt and it's first three or two buttons are buttoned while the others are not. That really stood out from his friend's outfits.

After looking at them and how handsome they've all gotten over the years, two people turned red and let out steam in clouds; Lettuce and Ichigo. Ichigo may have Masaya but he has to admit, Kisshu looks drop dead gorgeous and to Lettuce, Pai looks incredibly handsome. After laughing so much, Kisshu looks up at the table and notices the red Ichigo. She turns even more red when he's looking at her in amazement. But he smiled at her in the most sweetest way Ichigo has ever seen him. He greets, "Ichigo! Hi! It's been a while. You look amazing."

Ichigo soon shakes off the blush on her face and swallows the drool in her mouth so that she could answer, "Thank you." Then she gets off her chair and walks up to him. That was unexpected. But not so much when she just slaps him across the face. That shocks everyone; even Pudding when she noticed that Ichigo walked up. Ichigo yells, "That was for leaving without so much as good bye! The least you could have done was waited until I came back to life! Last time I saw you, you died in my arms!" He was surprise and confused by her hit but became shock from her words. He couldn't say anything to that and she didn't let him. She points a finger at him and says, "Don't you dare get the wrong idea, okay?" Then she hugs him. This girl is just full of surprises. After the short hug, she pulls away and smiles. She says, "It's good to see you again! Have you been well?" That makes Kisshu get his smile back.

Mint yells at Pudding, "Hey, Pudding!" She turns from Ichigo to Mint as she asks, "Why didn't you tell us that they were back?"

She answers, "I wanted it to be a surprise! Surprise!" Taruto just rolls his eyes and shakes her head from her childishness. It's amazing on how old she is but her character changed during the five years. The only thing that did is that she doesn't say 'na no da' at the end of every sentence.

After finally coming back to earth, Lettuce adjusts her big round glasses and asks, "Would you guys like to sit down?"

Ichigo agrees, "Yes, you should! Since you guys already crashed the party, might as well come over and enjoy. You guys need to tell us on what happened after you left. You guys haven't contacted us or anything!"

Kisshu scratches the back of his head and gives her a nervous smile. He says, "Sorry, Ichigo. We've been busy."

"Extremely busy," Pai agrees.

All three walked over and takes a few empty chairs from other tables. Ryou looks a bit upset while Keiichiro looks unease from Ryou's fury. Lettuce moves to Pudidng's seat because she wants to sit by Taruto. So now Lettuce is sitting next to Pai, Pudding is sitting next to Pai and Taruto, and Kisshu is sitting next to Taruto and Ichigo.

Ichigo asks, "Okay, spill it! What happened during the four years?"

Both Kisshu and Taruto just collapse on the tables at the very thought of that while Pai only leans his hand over his forehead. A sign that those four years have been the most tiring years of their lives. Pai explains, "After finally reaching our planet's atmosphere, we used the remaining Mew Aqua to cure it."

Kisshu adds, "It was really pretty when it happened. We didn't land but from afar, we saw all of these rainbow bubbles fall to the ground like gentle rain and everything was healing. The weather finally calmed down, the trees and plants started to grow healthy and strong, and there was clean air for our people to breathe. When our people noticed the amazing changes on the surface, they came out of the underground city and the ground closed up under them. Thank god no one was inside when the hole closed up."

"Then came the hard part," Taruto says. "We had to explain to everyone Deep Blue's real intentions on Earth and that was not easy for those who have believed with all of their hearts that Deep Blue was going to save them all. That took months but it all soon calmed down because they finally got the idea that they have a beautiful planet and can now live in peace. The hard part was all of those yelling, screaming, and protests that were against us for going up against Deep Blue."

"Then we had to help build homes for everyone to live in and they all told us that we should be their leaders since they don't have. We had to bring order, think of rules, find food, find ways to live, and find what's poisonous and what's not," Pai finished.

Ichigo notes, "Sounds like you guys have been busy." They collapsed again.

"You have no idea," they mumble. Pudding had to laugh at that and Taruto is red from her laughing.

"But besides those who were angry at you," Lettuce starts, getting their attention, "was there anyone who was glad to see you all safe and sound?"

Kisshu answers, "My sister."

Taruto answers, "My cousin."

Pai answers, "My niece who's only a year younger than me."

Ichigo blinks in surprise. "You didn't tell me you had a sister. Only that you have friends or family."

Kisshu reminds her, "You never asked because you kept trying to run away."

Ichigo reminds, "Well I wouldn't be running if you hadn't been trying to either kill me or make you yours." Kisshu becomes silent after that.

Mint asks, "How long have you three been here?"

Taruto answers, "About two days, counting this one."

"When do you have to go back?"

All three answer, "Tomorrow." That's upsetting news to three people.

Then a new song starts and Pudding is clapping, ignoring the sadness building up in her heart. "Oh, I love this song! Come on Taru-Taru!" She grabs his hand and insists, "Let's dance!" Before he could answer, Pudding is already off the chair and is leading him to the dance floor.

Ichigo says, "Well it is a party." She grabs Kisshu's arm and tells him, "I'm hyper and I need to let it out. Come on!" Before he could answer, she was already leading him to the dance floor.

Ryou says, after being silent for so long, "Well it would be rude if they're dancing and we're just sitting here." He offers his hand to Mint and she gladly took it.

She tells him, "You're too kind." They both started to walk towards the dance floor as Keiichiro offers his hand to Zakuro.

"Shall we?" he asks. Zakuro smiles and nods at him. They both left, leaving Lettuce and Pai alone. Lettuce is red as Pai is watching everyone just walk towards the dance floor or was dragged there.

Finally Pai looks at Lettuce and just stares. She notices and asks, "Yes, Pai-san?"

"Nothing," he answers, looking away nervously. She looks down at her lap and there was silence. Until Pai finally asks, "Would you..like to dance?"

Lettuce got really nervous and red real fast. She waves her hands in front of her very fast and answers, "No, I mustn't! I'm a terrible dancer!"

He tells her, "So am I. I never danced before. We could just talk if you don't want to dance then."

Lettuce is surprise to hear that. She stares at him in amazement as he's looking at her in almost a pleading way. Soon she smiles and answers, "Sure." He smiles at that and they started talking while their friends were dancing; two of them didn't know how to dance and were very nervous.

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In Ichigo's room at her empty house, Ichigo is making out with Kisshu on the bed. They're both sitting on the bed and Ichigo is on her knees while she leans down to kiss him and her hands are on his shoulders. He's facing up to kiss her and his hands are on her waist. Their kisses are fast and wild and Ichigo looks the most drunk.

After dancing for about an hour, Lettuce and Pai were in a very friendly conversation and the others came back. They all ordered drinks but this time, three people decide to try alcohol; Kisshu, Pai, and Lettuce. Pudding and Taruto decide soda and they pick the one with the most sugar. The party soon got wild and it was midnight. Keiichiro decided to take Zakuro home while Ryou drove Mint back home. The aliens took care of the other girls.

Taruto and Pudding were walking towards her house and Pudding was more hyper than ever. She kept jumping up and down, screaming. Taruto tried to calm him down but it was impossible. Then when they arrived at her house, Pudding was crying. She says that now Taruto has to go and she won't see him anymore. He tried to calm her down but it was really hard. He tells her that he'll try to come back and she asks him if he'll promise. He promised. Then she goes to her pocket and shows him a candy drop. She gives him about five so that he could always remember her and she shows him how to eat one of them. She pops it in her mouth and tells him that he needs to suck on it. She decide to give him a little taste test. She kissed him and passed the candy drop to his mouth. He was surprise to get a kiss from her and he got the candy drop. She was still crying and he wanted to kiss her again. So he did but it was only a small one. Then she went inside and told him bye. He said bye to her too and was surprise by her kiss and the one he gave her. He turned back into an alien and teleported back to his ship.

Pai decided to walk Lettuce home and she wouldn't stop talking. She kept telling him about what she found out in her marine biology sessions that she thought was really cool or needed concern with. He agreed with her and told her things he found out from when he was last here. She added that information to her brain and really appreciated that. Then she passed out half way and he carried her the rest of the way to her house. He opened her apartment and laid her on the couch quietly since she still lives with parents. But before he left, she suddenly got up and hugged him from behind. She told him that she really likes him. That surprised him as she confesses that she missed him over the years and because she ended up falling for him, she gave up on Ryou and thought only of him. When he looked at her, she was out again and was sliding off his back. He caught her and they both ended up sitting on the floor. But instead of picking her up and carrying to her couch, Pai lifted her face up to look at him and he kisses her lips. After the kiss, he holds her and tells her that she's really important to him. After that, he puts her back on the couch and closes the door from the inside. He teleports shortly after having one last look at her and turning into an alien.

Meanwhile, Kisshu and Ichigo were the two who are more drunk and hyper out of anyone. Ichigo was drunk and Kisshu was hyper. He teleported her home and into her room. She told him that her parents aren't home and she's really hungry. He was acting dense for a few minutes by asking her if she wanted something to eat and she said yes. But then she pushes him on the bed and tells him that she's hungry from some quiche. He was surprise to hear that but not so much when she kissed his lips. Then her tongue came next and he was enchanted. When they were younger, he always yearned for her lips. Now he has a full taste of it and he's enjoying every moment of it.

At the time, Ichigo was wearing a light pink short sleeve shirt with dark pink designs. It is tight on her chest but baggy on the bottom. It's waist length and it has a low collar. She also has long jeans on. But soon it was starting to get undone. Kisshu's hand went up a bit and first he was just holding her close to deepen the kisses. Then one hand grabs the zipper and starts pulling it down. Ichigo was smiling while it was going down as her hands started to go under his shirt. Then he woke up from the magic spell.

When his hands only brought the zipper half way down, he stopped and pushes her away, causing her to extract her hands from his shirt. He looks down, trying to breathe as Ichigo is a little out of breathe hers elf. She asks him, "What's wrong?" Her hands slide up to his shoulders and he was shaking his head. She stopped at the shoulders.

He looks up at her but she ends up kissing his lips again. He couldn't help but close his eyes every time she kissed him. It was short and he was trying to pull away but how can he? He tries to tell her in between kisses, "Ichigo. Listen. There is. Something. I need. To tell. You."

She tells him in between kisses, "Talk. Is not. Important. Right. Now."

"But. I need. To tell. You now."

"Don't."

She didn't kiss him after saying that one word. She sits down on the bed, her hands still on his shoulders and she's looking down. He's glad she stopped but now he's wondering why she just got into depression mood on him. It could be mood swings.

She's crying and now he's worried. "Hey, Ichigo. What's wrong?"

"Why did he leave?" she asks. That was shocking to hear. Then Ichigo starts sobbing. "I understand that he had to go with his parents but did he have to? Especially when he already gave me a taste of what love is. I will probably always love him but how can he just leave me like this? I hate him! I hate him for leaving me like this!" Her hands slide from Kisshu's shoulders to his face and she looks at him straight in the eyes. "You left too. I was so upset because I wanted to know if you were alive or not. I should have faith in my friends, but a part of me wanted to see for myself that you were still alive. Didn't you notice that you became so dear to me when we were young?" She pulls herself closer towards his face and with only an inch away, she tells him, "You showed your heart to me. A heart that's gold, passionate, caring, and loving. You're precious to me so please, heal my wounded heart. You want this too, don't you?" After that, she kisses him and he closes his eyes half way. She was right. He wants this.

He kissed her back and wraps his arms around her to pull her close. After the kiss, He took his shirt, or shirts off and she finished taking her top off. They kissed again and went at it; most to Kisshu's yearning and Ichigo's pleasure.

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It's been a week since that crazy party and the aliens were long gone. Their only goodbyes were Taruto's kiss, Pai's words, and Kisshu's night. Lettuce didn't remember anything about the kiss that Pai gave her and she was sad he left. However, his facts on marine biology were very interesting and it made the teacher proud of her. Pudding remembered the kiss and the candy drops she gave Taruto and now her only wish is that he would come back soon. However, Ichigo's been sick. For three mornings straight after a few days after that night, she was throwing up in the morning and she had these yearnings but could barely keep them in her stomach. She kept them a secret because she decided to let them pass but when she started to familiarize two and two together, she was ready to have a heart attack.

While Ichigo is throwing up in the bathroom while her mom is cooking, causing the smell of bacon and eggs to make her stomach feel worst. There was something else too. In one hand, she was holding a white stick and it looks like something is appearing on it. After flushing the toilet, she goes to the mirror and leans on the counter. During that time, she looks down at the white stick and on it is a sign; a pink plus. She looks from the stick to her reflection in the mirror. She looks horrified.

"I'm…pregnant? I'm pregnant with Kisshu's child?"


	2. 17 Years Later

**A/N: Hello everyone!! Okay, here's the deal! I'll let out the second chapters of the stories that I will be writing after I finish the three current ones. But just to let you know, I've finished this one a long time ago so I'm working on the chapters for the others. The reasons why I'm letting out the second chapter are because I'm not finish with the chapter that I am working on now and because I think that this story needs the second chapter out to give it some spice.**

**I do NOT own TMM or the songs I used in my stories. Thank you all for the wonderful reviews before and please keep them coming!! Thank you and please enjoy!!**

Ch. 2: 17 Years Later

"Hiya!!"

A girl twirls the two sticks in her hands at full speed and then takes a step back and looks like she just stab something behind her. She pulls the sticks away and twirls to stab at nothing on the other side of her. She does a back flip and as she's in a handstand position, she pushes herself up into the air and jumps about five feet of the ground. She lands on the ground as graceful as a cat and then stands up straight. She tries to breathe for a moment, before smirking as if someone is really there and she just defeated two of their warriors. Then…

"MIDORI!!!"

'_Oh crap, she caught me!'_ the girl thinks, dropping the sticks and becoming a bit scared. She turns around and sees her mother giving her a furious look. She's out of fantasy land and is in big trouble.

Her mother asks, "Midori, what were you doing?"

"Ah well…I…" Midori shutters. Her mother crosses her arms in front of her and taps her foot in impatience. What to say, what to say? "I was practicing some moves that Kiiro was showing me the other day. They were really cool and I wanted to try it!"

"And they require two sticks, why?" she asks.

"Ahh…."

_Beep_

_Beep_

_Beep_

Midori looks down at her watch on her wrist and smiles at the time. She tells her mother, "Well sorry to cut things short but I need to go to work or Shirogane will cut my pay! You know how he can be, mom!"

"Hold on!"

"Bye mom!"

Midori is running to the fence and she jumps over it, no problem. Her mother just watches her run away from the house and on her way to the park to get to the café. Her mother lets out a sigh and ruffles her loose shoulder length hair. She mumbles, "That kid... She's getting more and more like him every second I'm not looking."

Midori Momomiya is at least 16-years old, she's a Scorpio, her blood type is B positive, she's a first year in high school and will soon be a second year, and she's the daughter of Ichigo Momomiya. Midori has shoulder length pink hair, but the hairs in front of both her ears are three inches longer and are a dark shade of green (hence her name). Her eyes look like light milk chocolate and her naturally unusual ghost pale skin is soft, clear, and moist. Its summer time right now and she's running towards the café with her fast running speed. She also has two normal human size ears.

When finally arriving at the café, she didn't waste any time barging in through the doors and looks around, hoping that she's not late. The first person she sees is 37-year old Ryou Shirogane who's looking at his watch and her sudden entry makes him look up. He puts on an irritated face and mumbles, "Shoots."

Midori cheers, being wheezy on the door, "Yes! I'm first again!" She collapses on the floor after that Ryou has a blank face on as he looks down at her.

"You're not first, Midori."

She points at him and says, "You can't say that! Aoi is only first because he gets here the same time you do."

"So does Morizaki," Ryou reminds. Midori just stays on the ground and tries to breathe, letting the air condition cool off her sweaty body.

Then they hear, "Ryou, is Midori-san here?" What peeked out from the kitchen doors is 42-year old Keiichiro who looks like he could be in his mid-thirties.

Midori asks, "Please answer me, Keiichiro-san. Is there any deserts left that are needed to be tasted?"

He smiles at her and answers, "There are three deserts left that you can try." Midori stands up and runs straight for the kitchen, leaving Ryou and Keiichiro in the dust.

Ryou grumbles, "That child is just like her mother when it comes to sweets." Keiichiro couldn't help but laugh as he's waving away the dust in the air.

"True, she has certainly gained her mother's sweet tooth, but you know who she mostly resembles," Keiichiro reminds, smiling at Ryou. He just looks at his watch.

"The others will be late soon." Then almost right on time, two more people came running in; a boy and a girl.

The boy is leaning on the door as the girl is leaning on the boy. The boy moves his hair away from his face and then tells Ryou, "We are so sorry! Are we late?"

Ryou answers, "Unfortunately, you both are right on time. Congratulations." While the boy and girl are smiling and trying to breathe easier. Ryou turns to Keiichiro and tells them, "The only way to cut their pay now is by their performance."

Keiichiro tells him, "Ryou, please be nice today." He turns to the boy and girl and tells them, "There are sweets in the kitchen if you like but you better hurry and get there before Midori-san eats them all, Kashoka-kun…Kiiro-san."

The girl, Kiiro jumps up and cheers, "Hooray, ra ro ha! Snack time, ra ro ha!" Then she goes running to the kitchen while Kashoka bows to both of them on his way there.

"Thank you," he answers. Then he goes into the kitchen to run after Kiiro.

Both Ryou and Shirogane hear, "Hey you both made it!" from Midori.

Kiiro tells her, "Of course, silly ra ro ha. How can any of us miss snake time, ra ro ha?"

"You only say that because my father is the best chef in Tokyo and makes the best cakes," they hear a girl say to Kiiro in a reminding voice instead of a boosting and snobbish voice. This girl sounds gentle and sincere.

Midori tells her, "We know, Morizaki. You tell us that every single time we appreciate the cakes."

"It's true, isn't it?"

"Hey, Aoi nii-kun," Kiiro calls. "You going to eat that blueberry parfait or am I going to finish it, ra ro ha."

Aoi asks her, "How about you eat that vanilla banana cream pudding and I eat the parfait?"

Keiichiro lets out just from hearing them, "They grow up so fast, huh?"

Ryou nods. "But I wonder if this will always happen." Keiichiro gives him a curious look as he explains, "I mean them trying to come to the café on time so that they can have some sweets and to make sure that their pay doesn't get cut. How much longer will this last until something happens?"

Keiichiro only smiles at him. "Ryou, there is something you have to understand. There are things that don't last like how you went through but there are some things that do last such as love and friendship. Even if things do change a bit, our kids will always be together as friends and will support one another just like how their mothers have supported the other in their time of need. For now, let's just believe that things can last as long as they can. Maybe not forever but a bit longer than they used to."

After listening to his words, Ryou couldn't help but smile and let out a small chuckle. Then he yells to the kids, "Hurry up because it's almost time to open and none of you are dress." After that, there was a pause and then a clatter of plates and they can hear some of them gulping down the treats and getting brain freeze moments later. After that, there was the sound of dishes hitting the other, sink running, and hearing the noises of crashing.

"Kashoka-kun!" Kiiro calls out after a crash. "Look out okay, ra ro ha?"

"Sorry," he answers, picking the mess.

Then after the clean up, the doors swung open and all five kids ran to the dressing rooms; three girls went into the ladies dressing room as two guys ran into the men's dressing room. Ryou wonders, "Will that last?"

Keiichiro laughs. "Probably."

Then Ryou goes upstairs to handle some paper work as Keiichiro goes back into the kitchen to take care of any messes they missed and to prepare the deserts for the hungry customers when they come. When the five were ready, they went back into the kitchen and bowed to Keiichiro.

They all said, "Thank you for the deserts."

Keiichiro only smiles at them and says, "You're welcome." Then they went off to work.

The Café Mew Mew that was once waitressed by the girls are now being waitress by their kids; Midori, Morizaki, Aoi, Kashoka, and Kiiro. The designs of the building are still the same; the building's body color is pink, the heart shaped windows are dark pink, the building looks like a castle, the building is decorated with different color hearts on the inside, and there is still that same golden cat with wings on the top of the café. The food is still the same, cute and delicious and there are still more to be made so long as Keiichiro is the main chief. The one more thing that didn't change is the uniform for the girls.

Morizaki Akasaka is the daughter of both Keiichiro and Zakuro Akasaka. She's 15-years old at the moment, her blood type is O negative, she's a Pisces, and she's going to go into her second year of high school when summer vacation is done. Similar to her mother, she is a beauty. She has short purple hair that hovers over her shoulders like a purple halo. Her skin color is light olive, her completion is clear and flawless, and she has the body of an angel. Her eyes are brown just like her father's. As she was growing up, there were times in which she was asked to do a picture shot or do a movie clip but she declines most of them. Unless these job offers involve both her parents in it, she doesn't do it. Besides the looks from her mother, she is actually a good cook like her father but she prefers being the waitress so that she can be with the others. Her uniform colors are purple and her ribbon color is light pink.

Aoi Shirogane is the son of Ryou Shirogane and Mint Shirogane. Both of his parents have been married for about fifteen years. Mint soon got pregnant with Aoi after it happened. Mint didn't mind giving up dancing for a while because it was Ryou's child and she wanted to have it. He's 14-years old, he's B positive, a Taurus, and he's going to go to his second year in high school. His short hair is dark blue like the deepest part of the sea and his eyes are the same color as dark chocolate. His dark olive color skin is clear and it looks tight on his toned body. In only hair color and eye color is he like his mother but when it comes to other stuff, he's his father. The strange part is that his height and his looks don't make him look like his age. He looks how all boys in his grade level are supposed to look. He already skipped two grades because he has his father's brains. The only difference between them is that he's not always a smart mouth like his parents; sometimes. Because he's a boy, the uniform for males is that they wear long black dress pants, a dress white buttoned shirt, a bow collar, and a vest. His bow is light blue as his vest is dark blue.

Kashoka Midorikawa is the daughter of Lettuce Midorikawa and an unknown male. This is because two years after the aliens left and Ichigo got pregnant, Lettuce wasn't thinking. She wanted to be free and bad for one night. So she went into a bar and got really drunk. The next day, she woke up in a hotel room, she was naked, the bed was empty, and she had a massive hangover. Then a few days later, she found out she was pregnant. She didn't get an abortion because she was too nice to do that. She didn't want to kill something that is growing inside of her and it was her mistake. Her parents were supporting but when Kashoka was born, some people saw him as the 'bastard child'. Kashoka has short shaggy brown hair and dark red eyes _(Just imagine Lettuce's hair style but without the two braids)_. His skin is a very light olive color, almost pale but not as white as Midori's. He's 13-years old, an A negative, a Leo, and he'll be starting his second year in middle school. Because he saw his mother try to be happy for him even though he can tell she's sad, he became a shy and very kind person like his mother. He's also a bit clumsy so sometimes it was better if he took orders instead of delivering them. His bow collar is light brown and his vest color is dark brown.

Kiiro Fong is the daughter of Pudding Fong and her ex-boyfriend. Because Taruto or any of the other aliens didn't come back, Pudding was depressed like Lettuce but she didn't go crazy. What happened was that Pudding met someone and dated him for about a month. Then he got into her pants and he convinced her it was okay. But then when she got pregnant, he broke up with her. Her father came back soon after they broke up and he was angry with the boy. But Pudding told him not to attack and to rather help her with the child because it would seem that he only cares about fighting when he should be staying by her side and helping her go through with it because she can't do it alone. It worked and he stayed and helped her with the child. Her siblings did too and she had a little girl. Kiiro is 11-years old, an AB negative, a Libra, and she'll start her first year in middle school. She has bright yellow hair that is about three inches longer than her shoulders. Her hair is tied into four ponytails but the front two are braided. She has a nice brown tan from being in the sun a lot and her eyes are a dark blue color. For being so active, she looks like she has no fat what so ever on her body; just like her mother when she was her age. Her uniform color is dark yellow and bright light yellow.

Finally, Midori's uniform is dark emerald green and lime green. The one thing about Midori is that she feels like she's different. Not like different that maturity different, but more like she's not human different. She feels like she's not like the rest of her friends or her mom. She feels like she's something else but no one will ever tell her what. She did ask about who her father was but that was when she was kid. When she asked, her mother was furious and told her never to ask her about him again. Then her mother would tell her sorry and break down crying. That was the last time Midori asked.

While the busy day was going by, Morizaki getting numbers from boys who insist that she takes them, Aoi just delivering to the customers without smiling or anything, Kashoka tripping on things that are not there, and Kiiro pretending to be Tarzan as she delivers the trees, Midori was looking out the window for one short moment. She doesn't know why but she likes to just look out and see what's in the sky.

"Midori!" Aoi calls. She gets out of her phase and looks at Aoi as he tells her, "Table three needs their bill."

"Got it!"

Then she goes running towards the cashier and makes the bill; just missing something flying through the sky and landing on the park's grounds at light speed.


	3. The Past Comes Back

Ch. 3: The Past Comes Back

_Ring, ring_

"Sorry we're closed," Kashoka tells the person who just walked in. He turns around to look at the person but then gasps in surprise. The others did as well and they see the same thing.

In front of the closed door is a cloak person. The person seems to be a woman because by the sound of her panting, she sounds like a woman. She looks at everyone really fast like she's desperate to find someone but that person is not there. Then that woman asks, "Where is Ichigo Momomiya? Please, I desperately need to speak with her!"

In confusion, Midori steps forward and asks her, "What do you want to talk to my mother about?" The woman looks at her after saying that and then her blue eyes are wide in surprise. She examines Midori completely and Midori is feeling just a little bit uncomfortable.

The woman asks walking a little closer, "You're…Ichigo Momomiya's daughter?"

"Ahh, yes," Midori answers, confused and a bit freaked out.

"Are you at least sixteen?"

"How do you know?"

"Oh my god! You are-"

"Excuse me!" Everyone looked back at the door and they see Ichigo. She stares at the woman and asks, "Who are you?"

"Are you Ichigo Momomiya?" the woman asks, ignoring Ichigo's first question and Midori.

"I am," Ichigo answers.

That was all it took for the woman to go up to Ichigo and plead. She cries, "Please you have to help!" Ichigo is confused and a bit shocked that the woman just went up to her. Then the woman starts crying as she mumbles, "Please, my brother! He needs help, please!" Ichigo is confused and was ready to ask who the brother is but then she saw something inside the hood. Her eyes widen a bit in surprise of that but she soon gained back her composure and looks back at her daughter.

"Midori, I need to borrow the dressing room for a bit. I need to talk to this woman in private," she tells her.

Midori asks, "Is it okay?"

Ichigo just gives her a half smile and tells her, "Everything will be fine. Now finish cleaning up so we can just leave after you change."

"Alright."

Ichigo looks back at the woman, her smile gone. But when she was going to touch the woman, she pulled away from Ichigo's touch. That was interesting but Ichigo walks towards the dressing room and the woman fallowed. All the while, she was looking around like she's just expecting something to come out and attack. Her movements and the feelings on her face were very suspicious and the one who looked most interested was Aoi.

_Ten minutes later…_

"Midori!" Aoi whispers. Midori looks up at him from her sweeping and he asks, "Want to go check it out?"

"Uh?"

"The conversation that woman and your mom are having."

"But wouldn't that be rude and it's really none of our business," she tells him. "Besides, that woman gives me the creeps." She shutters at the remembrance of that woman looking at her like she was god or something.

Aoi tells her, "That's exactly why we should check it out. That woman is suspicious and what's more suspicious is that your mom was so willing to talk to her. Something is up and we should check it out."

"I don't know…"

"I'll ask father to give you a raise from my account." Midori just stares at him after that while he's just waiting.

Then Midori puts the broom down and grabs Aoi's wrists. "Come on!" she tells him, quietly. Aoi just lets her drag him away; he knew that would work.

They both arrive in the hallways and listened through the dressing room door. All they could hear is muffled talking because of the door. So what they both decided to do was open the door slightly and peek through and get a better hearing on what they're both saying.

"My answer is no!"

"But you have to, please!"

When they looked in though, it was surprising. That cloak woman who had a hood on so they couldn't see her face clearly now has it off. Her appearance was surprising. She has shoulder length layered black hair and her eyes are blue like gems. She has tears in her eyes, making hem glossy and there are tear stains on her cheeks. She keeps reaching for Ichigo but she seems like she dares not touch her. The surprising thing about her is that she has big elf like ears. Those are not human.

Ichigo looks upset as she tells the woman again, "I want no part in this what-so-ever and I don't care about how that bastard is!"

The woman asks, "But why? When you were kids, you two were-"

"We were nothing!" Ichigo exclaimed, furious now. That surprises three people as Ichigo tells the woman again, "I want nothing to do with him. Never again. I don't want to help or even associate with the one man who ruined my life." Midori's eyes widen in disbelief of what Ichigo just said. Her stomach feels weird like something amazing just happened but she didn't know why. Then panic ended up distracting both Aoi and Midori. "Now I want you off this planet and solve the problem yourself. Send my regards."

Both Midori and Aoi stand up straight and stare at each other in panic. They look around and across from them is a closet. As they can hear footsteps coming to the door, they rush to the closet, open it, go inside, and close it right when the dressing room door opens. Midori and Aoi take deep breathes to try and calm down their fast beating hearts.

Midori notes, "That was close!"

"You got it," Aoi agrees, panting.

Then they both look at each other to laugh. They did for a short moment but then they realized how close they are to the other, they stopped.

Midori asks, "Is it just me or is this closet-"

"Tight?" he asks.

She nods, her eyes never leaving his. "Yeah."

It was light brown eyes meet dark brown eyes in that small, cramped room. Their faces are only inches apart from the other and they both can feel the other's breath on their faces. Aoi looks handsome. He always had but Midori never once tried to admit it. Midori always told herself that she can't try and like him because of the age difference. But he's taller than her and she has to look up to try and see him while he looks down to see her face. To him, Midori has always been the prettiest girl he has ever met. Strong, focused, always smiling, and curious when it counts. There are times when she would get upset but that's only to stand up to her friends, especially when some guys are starting to treat Morizaki badly.

Midori's cheeks are red from the depths of Aoi's eyes and the heat of his breath on her face. _'His eyes…I feel like I could be..swallowed up.'_

He thinks, _'She's so beautiful and she's even cuter when she's blushing.'_

Before either of them could realize it, they're moving closer to one another. He's leaning closer to her as she's tip-toeing up to reach. They're both hesitating but right before their noses were even touching, the door suddenly opens and Ichigo is the one who opens it. They back off from one another as Ichigo has a brown raise on her face. She looks from Aoi to her daughter and her daughter to Aoi.

Midori calls out, nervously, "M-Mom?"

Ichigo greets, "Hello, Midori." Then she grabs her daughter's arm and pulls her out of the closet. "It's time to go so go ahead and get changed so that we can leave." Almost like she's a doll, Ichigo holds onto Midori's arm as she tells Aoi, "If I were you, I would talk to my father before I think about dating older women." Aoi turns red as Midori just explodes.

"Mom!!" she calls in embarrassment. But Ichigo just opens the dressing room and tosses Midori in so that she could change. But when she had the door opened, Aoi notices that no one is in there.

Midori jumps a few times so that she won't fall over as the door closes behind her. She pouts like a little kid and her face is completely red. She mumbles, "We weren't going to kiss anyway! I don't even like him like that…right? Oh good god!"

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX

In the forest, the cloak woman is running. She's trying to run as fast as she can to get away. Panic fills her body to the fullest and she has sweat pouring down her face. Her lungs are burning inside her chest and her legs are aching but she has to keep going. She has to keep running. She has to get away.

When she feels like she ran enough, she hides behind a huge tree where she will be out of sight when her pursuers come passing by. She tries to take in deep breathes for a bit before quieting down when she can sense three presences coming her way.

She hears one girl ask, "Where did that wench go?"

A male dry voice mumbles, "As long as she's still running, she couldn't have gotten far."

An older male mumbles, "Of course she didn't." From the sound of her voice, the woman can tell that this male is smirking but then she senses danger right behind her.

The tree she's standing behind gets slice so fast that it took a few minutes before it started to fall. The cut was clean and strong. She turns around and she sees all three of her pursuers. She gasps and gets ready to run again.

The girl however teleports from besides her comrades to in front of the woman and tells her, "You ain't going anywhere, hag!" Then a strong gust of wind hits the woman and she goes flying; pass the girl's comrades and straight into a tree. The hit was painful to her back as she slides off the trunk when the wind stopped. She slides down to her knees and tries to stand up, or at least sit up. She has to get away. She knows that.

But before she could even sit up straight, she sees the three aliens' feet in front of her. She gasps and looks up to see them; one girl, two boys. The girl has a smirk on her face out of pure victory, one tall boy has an emotionless face and is just staring at her, and the second boy has a grin on his face. The things that scare the woman the most is that they have weapons in their hands. The girl has her Asian fan lightly fanning her, the tall boy has an axe leaning on his shoulder, and the second boy has a scythe hanging on the side of his body.

The one with the scythe tells her, "Chase is over, hag. Time to pay." The woman just flinches in fear and starts shivering.

The girl starts chuckling. "To think that a hologram caused us so much problems. At least her creator was taken care of."

The tall boy adds, "And the hologram's mission failed."

The woman is petrified now, but she manages to lift up a shaking hand and reaches for the one with the scythe. She pleads, "P-Please! You have to stop this before he gets worst! Please!!" All three of them flinch from her words and their grin or smirks dissolved.

But minutes later, the one with the scythe smirks and lets out a chuckle. Before the woman knew it, he sliced her in half. Instead of falling to the ground and blood exploding everywhere, her body glowed blue and then dissolved into the air. The only thing that was left was a strand of long black hair. The boy caught it as it glided to his hand when he stick it up.

He mumbles, "It's already too late, mother."


	4. It Begins

Ch. 4: It Begins

It's closing time and Ryou is out with Keiichiro for a bit, leaving Aoi in charge but from what Midori is noticing, he's acting weird.

"Morizaki!"

"Eh?" She looks up from cleaning the tables as she asks, "Aoi-san, what's up?"

"Nothing really. I just need you to do me a favor."

Morizaki waits for his command but then she feels something sharp on her finger. "Ow!" she yelps.

"Oh my," he lets out, looking at her hand. Her index finger is bleeding.

Morizaki wonders, "What just happened?" She looks around and she doesn't see anything with sharp edges that she could have touched. Aoi takes out a handkerchief and covers her bleeding fingers with it. She looks up at him in surprise of the warmth of his hands.

"I didn't mean to poke you that hard."

"Uh?"

After that, he walks away while taking the handkerchief with him. He tells her, "Make sure to clean that before it gets infected." Morizaki just stands there and watches him hastily leave to go to the basement. Midori has been watching the whole thing; all three times.

Midori grips her broom and watches Aoi leave with narrowed eyes. _'Okay, this is going way pass weird!'_ she declares, dropping the broom and fallowing Aoi.

Midori goes down the stairs and into the basement to see Aoi putting the handkerchief of blood in a machine. He presses a few more buttons and it starts working before he goes to his computer and starts typing twenty miles per hour. Midori swings the door opens and asks, "What the heck is going on here?!"

Aoi jumps from her sudden outburst and turns around to see her at the door. "Midori," he calls.

She walks up to him and places her hand on her hips. "Okay, spill it! First you drop a plate right in front of me and I end up getting my hand cut from a piece because you moved that piece! Then after Kashoka dropped a plate, you 'accidently' stepped on his hand over the glass! After that, you stabbed Kiiro with a needle and injected from her! Now I just saw you stab Morizaki with a knife so that you can play _Romeo and Juliet_!" Then her eyes notice something on the screen of his computer. She asks, "Is that…an anaconda?" Aoi looks from her to the screen, startled that the results came up so fast.

"So she is capable with an anaconda, huh? Interesting," he mumbles, making Midori more confused. "Start making formula, now!" Then he presses the enter button.

"Formula for what?"

Aoi turns towards her and stares at her confused face. Then he gets up from his chair and walks over to her. She gasps in surprise as he stands right in front of her, her heart starts to pound in her chest. Aoi tells her, "Sorry for the unexpected behavior but what I did are actions of precaution."

She asks, her cheeks red, "Precaution for what?"

"Remember that woman that came the other day?"

"Yeah," she answers, nodding.

Then Aoi places both of his hands on her arms and now she can hardly breathe. He tells her, "That woman was not human and I fear that trouble will be coming. But I will not tell you until I am sure that it will come. Hopefully, my hypothesis is wrong." His eyes are so full of deep worry and it almost looks like that worry is directed towards Midori.

It's been two days since that woman appeared and when Midori asked, Ichigo made sure that they drop the subject and not bring it up again. When her friends ask about that the next day, she just told them that they didn't talk about a single thing. It was just nonsense. That was when Aoi started acting weird. He was working without a smile and he looks lost in thought like he's thinking about something really important. Then today, he's acting weird with taking blood from everyone. Now he's standing before Midori and she feels like her heart might burst out of her chest.

"Aoi," she calls, looking down.

"Yes?" he asks.

"About that day," she starts, her voice starting to sound a bit shaky. "Do you..I mean by chance..do you..do you li-"

"Aoi-kun!"

Midori jumps from that as Aoi looks up at the door. He sees Morizaki and she gasps in surprise. She covers her mouth and tells them, "I was going to tell you that I'm off, but did I interrupt something?"

Embarrassed, Midori swallows and turns around towards Morizaki. She laughs and tells her, "No, you're not! We were just talking about my raise. Mom's birthday is coming and I wanted to get her something good."

Morizaki's brow rises up in confusion as she reminds, "But isn't her birthday in another three months."

"Yeah, but there is a gift that I think she'll love and it's a limited time item!" Midori turns to Aoi and smiles. She tells him, "See ya tomorrow, Aoi!" Then she bolts out of there, passing Morizaki and into the dressing room to change.

Morizaki turns to Aoi and asks, "Did I interrupt something, Aoi-kun?" Her expression is worried as Aoi looks at her startled from her question.

He answers, "No, you didn't." Then he looks at the way Midori left with a concern expression on his face.

"Idiot, idiot, idiot, IDIOT!!" Midori yells in the empty, evening park. She's in her normal clothes, which happens to be tight ankle length jeans with a red belt, red slippers, and a pink T-shirt. After she changed, she went home after saying bye to a few who saw her leave. She didn't bother to go back down to that basement to say bye to Aoi. Especially when she feels like an idiot!

Midori stops and starts talking to herself. "It's not like I like him anyway! Heck! I'm two years older than him! Sure there are couples out there with either the female or the male ten to twenty years older than their partner but it feels weird for me to do it!!" She lets out a sigh and admits, "Besides, Morizaki is a better match to him anyway. I'm not the celestial beauty, she is. She knows how to cook, she's been in a few movies, magazines, and TV shows with her mom, she's smart, and fun. Besides, she doesn't feel like a freak like I do." She lets out another exhale and wonders, "What's wrong with me?"

_Snap_

"Uh?"

Midori turns around and looks. There is no one there. Just her on the cement trail in an empty park. The wind blows and her eyes continue to scan the area for any other signs of life.

"Hello? Is someone there?" she asks. No answer and no movement. _'Okay, I'm too stressed out. I'm imagining things.'_ Then she turns around to continue on her way but when she did, she sees something. A BIG something.

There is a monster before her and it looks like a giant wolf. A black wolf with big yellow eyes, it's hair is sticking up, the teeth is huge, white, and showing her reflection while he's growling at her, and he looks like he's wearing armor. White silver armor glisten in the evening light and it covers it's head, the two front paws, and it's upper body. Midori's eyes widen in shock and fear.

"What the heck?!" she screams.

The giant wolf lifts up it's claw and swings it towards her. Midori jumps up and does a back flip. She lands on the ground with little effort. Then she gets up and runs for it. The wolf fallows after her.

"What is that thing?" Midori wonders, looking behind her to see the wolf gaining up on her. She pushes harder. _'Come on, you worthless legs! Go faster!!'_

The giant wolf then springs in the air, over her. The wolf lands in front of her and the rumble it creates causes Midori to fall. She falls on her butt and winces in pain. The wolf's shadow completely covers her and Midori gasps as she looks up. The wolf snares at her again and Midori starts shaking. She can literally see her life flashing before her eyes.

"No.." she mumbles, shaking like a leaf.

"Midori!!"

"Uh?"

Midori looks up, as well as the wolf, and she sees something else flying through the air. But this thing is not a giant animal. It looks like a human being, kind of. The being lands in front of Midori and it has a big sword pointing at the giant wolf in a protective matter. The being asks her, "Midori, you alright?" The being looks over his shoulder to look at her and she gasps in surprise.

This being does not look human what so ever! This person has white car ears with black stripes on it, like a tiger and he has a tail that's the same way. His outfit is what looks like baggy long sky light blue pants but it's tight on the ankles. He has a dark blue vest and on his neck is a silver charm on a single string that is the shape of a star. His sword that he's using is a huge sword. It's the same height and width of him. The hair looks like a lighter, more radiant shade of blue and he has light blue eyes that appear cat like. However Midori knows his face for his skin is still the same dark shade of olive.

She asks, "Aoi?! What the heck is going on? Why do you look like a cat?!" Not letting them talk, the giant wolf raises a claw and gets ready to slice both of them in half. Aoi sees that and instantly grabs Midori and jumps away, using his cat like reflexes. Midori cannot believe this and she's turning red from the fact that Aoi is holding her.

Both of them land a sturdy branch in a tree and Aoi comments, "You should probably lay off the sweets. You're heavier than you look."

Midori pushes Aoi away and yells, "Can we worry about that later?! Right now, I want you to tell me what the hell that thing is and what are you doing looking like that!"

Aoi looks at the giant wolf and answers, "That right there is a kirema anima."

She asks, "Kirema anima?"

The giant wolf sees them in a tree and runs to them. Aoi grabs Midori again and jumps away, right before the wolf pounces on the tree. They land on the ground as the wolf is ripping the tree apart like a dog and a chew toy.

Aoi gets up and tells her, "I can't keep carrying you around forever. You need to transform now!"

"Transform?!" she asks. "What do you mean 'transform'?! Transform into what?"

"Oh yeah, that's right." Aoi goes to his pocket and takes out a needle with a green substance in it. Midori looks at that curiously. Then Aoi turns to her and goes to her arm.

He stabs the needle into her shoulder and she whines, "OW!" He injects the needle into her and pulls it out. She asks, "What the heck did you do that for?"

He didn't answer as he goes to his pocket again and takes out another charm but this one looks like a circle. He tosses it to her and she catches it, staring at it and all of its silver beauty. He tells her, "The words will come to you. But hurry up!" Then he turns around and charges at the giant wolf.

"Aoi!!" she calls. But she looks back at the charm and wonders, "The words will come to me? What the heck does that mean?" She gazes down at the silver charm and it sparkles in the light. "These words…what are they?"

Aoi jumps up and swings his sword down on the wolf. He lets out a battle cry and thrusts it down. The giant wolf lifts up its paw and blocks the attack with his armored paw. He pushes Aoi back and he flips in the air before landing on his feet.

Then they both hear, "Ka Ka Swan Metamorphosis!!" Both Aoi and the wolf turn towards the green light that started to shine from where Midori was.

When the light started to dim away, Midori stood there in a new, strange outfit. It's a long dark green skirt that has a slip that goes up to five inches pass her knees and she has a black belt on her waist with her silver charm on as the center piece but it's bigger. She bares her stomach because her top is a dark green baggy tank top with a turtle neck collar. On her arms are long dark pink gloves that only hold onto one finger, the middle one on each arm and the glove reaches the elbow. On her back are black swan wings and she has big elf like ears. For her hair, it's the same color but the green strands are tied with dark red bandages and her hair appears to be more radiant than it did before. Her eyes, when they open, are golden amber and they have skinny pupils. She looks down at her body and blushes a deep crimson red.

"What the hell?!!" she screams, looking at her body. "What the heck is this?! How did I transform into this?" She looks behind her and she sees the black wings and her expression couldn't be any more shock than it already is.

Aoi yells, "Can you please stop freaking out and help me with this?!"

"Help you with what?!" she asks, now getting a bit angry. Then she gasps in surprise. The wolf raises its claw again and thrusts it down on the distracted Aoi. "Abunai/Look out!!" Aoi looks behind and sees the claw coming at him but he can't really do much. Out of instincts, Midori rushes to him at super speeding, using her wings.

'_What is this? What are these words? Are they words..coming from my heart?'_ she wonders.

She yells, "Swan Sais!!" What appears in front of her are two pairs of Sais; both with a dark brown handle and a blue jewel at the top where the blade meets the handle. Midori steps in front of Aoi and crosses her sais. It blocks the claw and the wolf pushes her back as she pushes forward. She tells Aoi, "Aoi, you not own me an explanation, you own me a raise!"

He tells her, "Well talk about it later. Right now, let's defeat it, Midori." She nods.

Aoi jumps up in the air and raises his sword. He cries out, "Star Tiger Fang!!" He thrusts the sword down and a tornado of snow attacks the wolf.

The wolf gets push back, away from Midori and she yells, "Alright, my turn!!" She jumps up as well and points her Sais up at the sky. She crosses them and calls, "Circle Swan Wing!!" A green round blast appears at the tips of the Sais and Midori pulls that down. The blast gets thrown at the wolf and it cries out before it begins to dissolve away.

Both Midori and Aoi land on the ground and both of them glow different colors. Midori turns back into her normal self after she glows green and Aoi does the same thing after his body glows light blue. Midori's legs grew weak as she collapse and exhales. That was…tougher than working at the café.

Aoi notices her collapsing and rushes to her side. "Midori!" he calls, kneeling besides her. Midori is panting as his arm is wrapped around her shoulders and his other hand is leaning against her other shoulder. He asks, "Are you alright?"

Then she sticks one hand up and she looks like her hand is waiting for something. He looks confused until she says, "I want my explanation."

He tells her, "I will explain tomorrow with everyone, I promise." Midori is annoyed.

"Oh heck no!" she tells him, angrily. He blinks in surprise of her anger as she tells him, "I've just fought a monster and I don't know why! And I turned into some kind of super hero with wings! With wings!! Do you have any idea how weird that was?"

He points out, "You also had big elf like ears, Midori."

She covers her small human ears from that as she asks, "I had what?!"

Aoi tells her, "Look, I know that this is a bit of a shock since you got it without a warning and it happened so fast but please wait until tomorrow. I don't want to repeat myself and I need to tell the others of what we're dealing with here. The attack just now proves my theory."

"Well you're going to have to repeat yourself, Aoi because I want an explanation now! What the heck are we involved in?!"

Then to her surprise, his closest hand goes to her chin and lifts it up. She loses her anger as she stares into Aoi's original dark chocolate brown eyes. He tells her softly, "Midori, I beg of you to wait. I promise that all of your questions will be answered tomorrow, with everyone. Okay?"

Midori's heart is pounding in her chest and her cheeks are turning red. But eventually, she looks down and mutters softly like a child, "Okay." Aoi smiles at her and releases her shoulders.

He pets her head and tells her, "That's a good girl." He stands up and offers his hand to her. She looks up at the hand before taking it and he lifts her up. He offers, "Shall I walk you home? You must be really shaken up with what happened."

She asks him, "What time is it?"

He looks down at his wrist and answers, "It's almost seven."

"Seven?!" she asks, dead shocked.

He asks her, "Is that your curfew?"

'_No! It's the time that mom comes home and if she sees me with Aoi then she'll kill me and give me the lecture of the birds and the bees again like how she did yesterday!'_

Midori smiles and tells him, "Yeah it is and I should really be getting home. Thank you for the offer but I need to make a break for it."

"Midori," he calls. But she walks around him and starts walking backwards.

She tells him, "No, really it's okay. Thank you and you own me your pay check for what happened!"

He lets out a sigh and mumbles, "Is money all you care about?"

"No, you do too."

Aoi looks at her but Midori covers her mouth in shock that she said that. Aoi is looking at her in confusion because he didn't really get that but Midori is really, really red. "What you say?" he asks.

"I said that I care about sweets too! I expect a blackberry lime parfait tomorrow!"

"You have the strangest taste," he tells her.

"I do? Hahaha!" Then she turns around and starts running. She yells, "Good night!!"

He just waves and mumbles, "Good night." He smiles as he watches her run away down the path to home.

Midori runs for another five minutes before stopping. She turns around and she doesn't see Aoi in sight. She places her hand over her heart and it's still pounding. Midori's cheeks are still red but she's smiling. She leans over a bit before jumping up and screaming, "Yata!! He likes me! He likes me!"

"I kind of like you too, kohakuchou-chan!"

"Uh?" Midori stops jumping and looks around for where that voice is. She asks, "What? Who's there?!" Then she feels like someone is right behind her. She swiftly turns around and gets ready to punch this person as she yells, "Get away from me!!"

But this person, so fast, grabs her fist and holds it. Midori only had a second before this person uses his free hand to go to the back of her neck and pulls her close. Before she knew it, she felt someone's lips on hers. She froze were she stands as her eyes are wide in shock while this person has his eyes closed. From what she can see, she sees that this person has pale skin and his eyelashes look beautifully long and thick. Is this person…a girl?!

Seconds later, this person breaks the kiss and the eyes remain close as the face only parts away a few inches away. Her face is really flushed now as she stares at the face of her kisser. This person is not a girl. Then the person opens his eyes and Midori can see sapphire blue eyes looking directly into hers. She has to admit one thing about those eyes as they look at her like he's searching for something. Those sapphires eyes are absolutely beautiful. They strike deep into her heart but she has a feeling she'd seen them before.

Then the boy smirks and tells her, "That was delicious, kohakuchou-chan."

"Uh?"

He pulls away from her and now she can see him fully. He has the weirdest outfit she's ever seen. His shoes don't really like any shoe she's seen. They looks like dark blue material covering his foot and ankle and it's tied around with a black string. He has black bandages tied around his shins. He has knee length shorts on that hang on his hips and it looks like it has an apron on both sides of him; in front and behind. The aprons look like a dark shade of blue but his shorts look black, like the two long ribbons sticking out from behind him. His shirt is short and baggy, similar to her outfit. It even bares his toned pale skin stomach. His shirt has puff sleeves and it's a turtle neck. The sleeves and the collar are black as the rest of his shirt is dark blue. On his arms, he has black bandages tied around from his wrist to his elbow. Finally, his hair is pure black; like shadows in the darkest of corners. It's short but the hair strands in front of his big elf like ears are long by at least four inches so they just reach his shoulders. He has a skinny figure but he has toned muscles on his body and his skin is ghostly pale; even paler than Midori, which she didn't think was possible. However, maybe the only thing that stands out to Midori is his sapphire blue eyes. He looks so beautiful.

She found her voice and asks, "Who…What are you?!"

He smirks again. "Can't you tell, kohakuchou-chan? To my kind, I'm a cyniclon but to your kind, I'm an alien."

Her eyes widen as she asks, "Alien?"

"My name is Kuro, by the way and I really enjoyed that kiss." He licks his lips to prove his point and the blush on her face deepens. Then to her surprise, he kisses her cheek and tells her, "I'll see ya tomorrow, kohakuchou-chan. Bye-bye." Then he flies up in the air and teleports away.

Hold on! Did he just fly and disappear?

Midori stands where she is and she's speechless. Kuro left her paralyzed.


	5. All Together Now

Ch. 5: All Together Now

All during preparation, working hours, and cleaning up, Midori has been in a daze. She was worst than Aoi two days ago. She's walking around like a ghost, she keeps dropping dishes, she has to be told twice of what to do, and her face is all red. To her friends, she's been like that since she got here. But to her, she's been like that since the kiss. When she was scolded by her mother, she was scolding Midori but she didn't seem to care. Ichigo instantly concluded that she was kissed but the person she assumed who kissed her is wrong. Aoi didn't lay a lip on her.

Kashoka, Kiiro, and Aoi are all grouped together, looking at Midori weird as she's wiping the table for the hundredth time. Kiiro mumbles, "Midori onee-chan has been acting weird all day, ra ro da."

Kashoka asks, "Aoi, you left around the same time she did, right? Did something happen?"

Aoi looks at him and answers, "Not really."

"I'm sure that she's fine." All three of them look towards Morizaki who decides to join their conversation while smiling. "Aoi and Midori were down at the basement together and he did walk her home, right? I bet she's been thinking about it since last night."

Aoi turns a bit red and tells her, "It wasn't like that!"

Morizaki just smiles sweeter and lets out a giggle. For once, she was wrong, sort of. Midori is thinking about last night but only of that alien and his sapphire eyes.

When the kiss was repeated in her head, she starts wiping the table faster and harder. _'I wanna see him too!! What the heck is going on with me?! It's not fair, it's not fair, it's not fair, it's not fair!!'_

"Hey!"

Midori looks over her shoulder and Aoi is there. He asks her, "You okay? You have a fever?" He places his hand on her forehead and it sends Midori's cheeks on fire.

Instantly, she pulls away, like to the wall and tells him, "I'm fine! I'm perfectly healthy!"

"Just tired from last night's commotion, huh?" he asks. The mention of that brings back the kiss and that cute alien with the dazzling blue eyes.

She looks down at the ground and mumbles, "Yeah, actually."

Aoi stares at her for a bit before turning around and announcing, "Hey! Let's go down to the basement! There is something I want to show all of you." He turns to Midori and tells her, "It's time I answer your questions, right?" Midori stares at him in awe.

From his order, all five of them headed downstairs after they put away the mops and changed back into their clothes. All of them are in the basement, Kashoka, Kiiro, Morizaki, and Midori are standing in a straight line and Aoi is standing over the counter with an open box and he's taking something out. When he turns around towards the others, he has three shoots in his hands. Morizaki and Kiiro are surprise to see them as Kashoka looks terrified.

He asks, "A-Aoi-san, wh-wh-what are those for?"

Aoi puts two of the shots down and leaves the one with the brown liquid in his hand as he walks over to Kashoka. He tells him, "Sorry about this but it's necessary." He swiftly grabs his wrist and injects the brown liquid into Kahoka's system.

"Own," he whines. When Aoi pulls the needle away, Kashoka pulls his wrist away and rubs it. He asks, "Please tell me that was clean."

Aoi tells him, "Don't worry, you won't get HIV." After that, he goes back to the table and picks up the other two needles; one filled with purple liquid and the other filled with yellow liquid. He tosses the one with the yellow liquid to Midori and commands, "Inject that into Kiiro, key?"

"Sure," she answers, nodding. Aoi walks over to Morizaki and grabs her wrist to inject the formula into his system. Midori does the same with Kiiro. Both of them wince in pain of the needles.

Kiiro pulls her wrist back and asks, "Aoi onii-chan, what's going on, ra ro da?"

Aoi answers, "What I just injected into you is a formula that will turn you all into the second generation of Tokyo Mew Mew."

Midori asks, "Tokyo Mew Mew?" Aoi nods.

While I was putting some things away in this very basement, I found files of a team that existed twenty years ago. A group of five girls known as Tokyo Mew Mew protected the earth from aliens by being infused with the DNA of animals that are compatible to their own." Midori gasps from hearing that. Did he just say…aliens? "Unfortunately, the only files I found were ones of the formulas of how to inject the DNA into the girls' system and of past events. It obtained no names of who the girls were or what DNA they were compatible with but I know that my father involved. My grandfather, Dr. Shirogane was the first to begin the Mew project but it was my father who successful completed it. They needed to because aliens were attack earth for reasons unknown until much later. The files were interesting so I decided to read them and study them for fun. But the day when that cloaked woman came that day, Midori and I discovered that she must be an alien. I took action and created my own formula of finding out what DNA we are compatible with instead of guessing like how my father did in the past."

Kashoka asks, "That's why you took blood from us?!"

"Forgive me, but I needed your DNA to find anima DNA that you are compatible with."

Kiiro yells, 'You could have taken hair samples!!"

"Sorry, not enough."

Kiiro huffs and Midori rubs the top of her head to calm her down. Morizaki asks, "Aoi-kun, how do we know if the aliens will attack us again? It's been twenty years. What other reason would they have to attack earth?"

"That I do not know. My father's files explain that the aliens attacked because their kind was on the brick of extinction and wanted to claim earth so that they can live in peace. There is a substance called Mew Aqua that is supposed to be so powerful that it can clean the earth's environment that would have taken hundreds of years for the earth to fix. My father and the Mew Mews gave the aliens the Mew Aqua to fix the planet they live on now and they left on good terms. Why they came back, I do not know. What I do know is that they did attack. Both Midori and I were attacked last night." All but Midori gasp in this. Aoi explains, "I injected myself and Midori the formula which you all just received and we destroyed the kirema anima."

"Kirema anima?" Kashoka asks.

"Kirema animas are animals that are infused with the alien's parasite. The parasite will cause the animal to become a monster and obey the alien's command. Cases such as Big Foot and Nessie could actually be kirema animas instead of the super natural."

"Aoi!" Midori calls. "That time when mom was talking to that woman. She didn't seem freaked out by her appearance as a normal person would."

"This means that either Ichigo remembers what an alien looks like when she was our age or she was a Mew Mew herself."

"My mom," Midori says in disbelief, "a mew mew. Cannot be possible!"

"What other evidence is there?" he asks. "If your mom was a Mew Mew, then there is a good chance of our mothers also being Mew Mews as well. Five girls, five moms."

Now that is just too much to take in. How could their mothers be Mew Mews?

"But rather they were mew mews or not," Aoi corrects, "my father's records show that their DNA dissolved after the fight because there was no longer a need to fight. It's our turn to save the planet we love. We are Tokyo Ka Kas, the new generation of heroes. My DNA is compatible with the DNA of a White Tiger. Midori's DNA is well matched with the DNA of a Black Swan. Kashoka!" Kashoka jumps in surprise of the call and turns to Aoi.

"Yes?"

"From your blood, your DNA is attunes perfectly with the DNA of a Whale Shark. Kiiro!"

"Yes?"

"You are compatible with the DNA of a Mono Titi monkey. And Morizaki!"

"Yes, Aoi-kun?"

"Anaconda is your match."

Morizaki asks, "I'm a snake?"

"And I'm a monkey, ra ro da!!" Kiiro cheers, like this is a new game.

"A shark?" Kashoka asks. "Is that really me?"

Midori thinks in relief, _'That explains why I have wings. Now that is a relief.'_

Right when Midori exhales, an alarm goes off. Aoi turns around to his computer as the others look around to see where the alarm is coming from.

Kashoka asks, "What's going on?"

Midori hears the sound of typing and looks to see Aoi typing as fast as he can on the computer. Screen after screen pops up and after a bit, he jumps up and takes out three charms from the box where he got the shots from. "Kashoka! Kiiro! Morizaki!!"

They turn to him and he tosses each of them a charm; Kashoka – tear drop, Kiiro – heart, and Morizaki – diamond.

"These charms will assure your transformation. There is an alien attack!"

Midori flinches at that and the alien's words last night echo in her head.

"_**I'll see ya tomorrow, kohakuchou-chan."**_

Midori asks, "Where is it?"

"In the middle of the city."

Then without another word, Midori turns around and starts running for the door.

Morizaki calls, "Midori!!" But she didn't stop. She just keeps on running up the stairs and out of the café.

"Come on!!" Aoi calls. Then he starts running after Midori. Morizaki fallows after him. He thinks, _'That girl makes too many rash decisions!'_

Kiiro turns to Kashoka and tells him, "This is completely crazy, ra ro da!!" Then both of them chase after them. Kiiro quickly tells him, "Don't trip, ra ro da!" But right after that, Kashoka trips over his own feet on the stairs. Kiiro stops and goes down to pick him up. "Come on, Kashoka!" Then they really start fallowing after them.

In the city, there are three giant kirema animas. One looks like a giant vicious bat, one looks like an ugly angel fish, and the other looks like a monstrous tree. When the kids arrive, they saw those kirema animas in the distance. Morizaki asks, "Is that...kirema animas?!"

Aoi answers, "Yes!"

"To think that attacking the city would be this fun! I love this game!!"

Kiiro yells, "I hear voices, ra ro da!!" Then Midori starts to run faster.

"Midori, stop!!" Aoi calls.

That she did. She stops when she sees the three kirema animas standing before her and she pants, looking like she's ready to fight. Her friends came up seconds later and only Kashoka lean on his legs in exhaustion. Both Kiiro and Morizaki hold their fast pacing heart and pant as Aoi looks the same as Midori.

"So these are the humans you were talking about, Kuro?"

All five of them look up and they see three aliens; only one that Midori recognizes. The other two are a boy and a girl. The boy looks the tallest and more mature looking so he could be the oldest and the girl looks the youngest, maybe. All three of them could be the same, possibly.

The girl has long white hair that is up in a high pony tail that's braided at least three times. She has dark grey eyes and ghostly pale skin with a tight curvy body. She has the same big elf like ears like Kuro does but her outfit is different. Her shoes almost look like black slacks and she has white bandages tied around her shins. She has white arm warmers with grey trimmings on her legs, covering her knees and she has a short same colored skirt with black ribbons sticking out from behind. Instead of showing bare skin on her stomach like how Kuro does, she has a see through black material covering it since her shirt is so short. Her white shirt just passes her chest and it tightly grasps that area. It's a turtle neck and it has long kimono like sleeves. On her sleeves are grey sakura blossom designs. In her hands as she's fanning herself is a grey Asian fan with black wind current designs.

The boy has bright red hair with one small pony tail on the left side of his head. He has dark golden eyes on his ghostly pale handsome face. He has a firm muscular looking body and in his hand is a big two edge ax with a red handle. This alien boy has a sleeveless short turtle neck shirt that's not baggy like Kuro's. It's five inches higher than his belly button and it's red. For bottoms, he has long brown pants with the two ribbons sticking out from behind. As for shoes, he doesn't have any. Only red bandages around his ankle and brown bandages on his wrists.

As soon as Kuro looks down to see what got the female alien's attention, his face perks up when he sees Midori after looking at the others. "Kohakuchou-chan!!" he cheers, happy to see her. The aliens and the humans look at him in confusion as in one moment he was there, the next he was behind her and his arms wrap around her from behind. "I've missed you, honey! Thanks for accepting my date." Then he kisses her cheek and her face flushes red from the kiss. Now the humans and the aliens look surprise but the female alien is the one who looks most shock of them all, and disgusted.

Then Midori pushes him away and yells, "Get off me!!" She tries to kick him and he jumps up before she could.

"Whoops!" he lets out, teleporting from that area to where he was before. They look up and he tells her, "I like the feisty types, kohakuchou-chan."

Then Aoi didn't waste any time transforming. "Ka Ka Tiger Metamorphosis!!"

Midori fallows soon after. "Ka Ka Swan Metamorphosis!" After the blue and the green light fade, the humans and the aliens see both Aoi's and Midori's transformation.

Kuro licks his lips as he examines Midori. "Yummy." Midori couldn't be any sicker.

Kashoka looks at Kiiro and asks, "What do we do?"

Kiiro answers, "We follow the leader I guess, ra ro da."

"But..."

Kiiro looks at her heart charm and tries to figure it out, "Ka Ka Monkey Metamorphosis!!"

Morizaki looks at her diamond charm and cries, "Ka Ka Snake Metamorphosis!!"

Finally, Kashoka grasps his teardrop charm like a prayer and cries, "Ka Ka Shark Metamorphosis!!"

Midori and Aoi look behind to see the yellow, purple, and brown light. When the light faded away and the others look at their outfits, they were shocked.

Kashoka has tight brown swimming pants with white spots on it and leather brown fingerless gloves. He looks behind him and he sees a shark's fin on his back. On his arms are fins too. His eyes and hair are the same color but his teeth are razor sharp, every last one of them. His teardrop charm is on his forehead like its nailed there. Kashoka ends up becoming really red because he doesn't have a shirt on.

Morizaki looks like she has a priestess outfit on. The kimono top is the same but it's short and bares her stomach and its light purple. Her pants are dark purple, they hand on her ships and it's short like about four inches shorter than Midori's skirt. She does have gloves because from her wrists to an inch pass her elbows are purple scales like a snake's. Her diamond charm is on her left wrist like a bracelet. Her eye pupils are skinny, she can feel the two sharp fangs in her mouth, and when she sticks out her tongue, she has a snakes tongue.

Kiiro has long camouflage pants that are yellow, orange, and dark orange for color. The pants are two inches longer than her knees and it has red elastic straps on it; looped over her shoulders. Her top is a sports bra shape top that is dark yellow. She has a monkey's tail and monkey's ears along with construction worker gloves. Her heart charm are doubled so that she can have one on each ear like an earring. Also her eyes are bright yellow. She's more amazed about her tail.

Kiiro cheers, "Wow, ra ro da! I have a tail, ra ro da!!"

Morizaki sticks her tongue out again and is amaze by that. "Wow…"

Kashoka covers his chest and is flaming red. "This is so embarrassing."

"Wow, kohakuchou-chan," Kuro calls. Everyone looks up at him as he comments, "Nice friends you have there. Let me introduce you to mine." He motions his hand to the female and introduces, "This is Haiiro." Then he moves his hand to the other boy alien and introduces, "And this is Aka. We're very pleased to meet all of you."

"And this is our hello present!" Haiiro cries. "Go, kirema anima!!" The angel fish flies pass her and towards the Ka Kas.

"Look out!" Midori screams. They jump up and got out of the way, well all but Kashoka. He looks up and sees the angel fish coming at him. The angel fish crashes into the ground and Kashoka goes flying through the air.

Kiiro gasps and calls, "Kashoka!!"

Midori quickly yells, "Kashoka, summon your weapon!!"

On the ground, Kashoka lifts himself up and tells her, "But I don't know how!"

"The words will come to you! Now hurry!!"

"No, ra ro da!!"

Kiiro lands on the ground in front of Kashoka and lifts her arms up in a protective matter. She screams, "No one hurts my friend and gets away with it, ra ro da!! Monkey Rope!!" What appears in front of her is a yellow jump-rope with orange handles. They watch as the angel fish gets up and charges at her now. She gets herself ready for it. Then she starts using the jump rope by jumping as the rope goes so fast that you don't see it. She lifts one leg and continues to jump as then she starts doing flips before letting go of one end and cry out, "Heart Monkey Trap!!" The end of the rope suddenly grows long and creates a glow that almost looks like a monkey as it grabs the angel fish like how a monkey grabs a tree. She yells, "Someone finish this guy, ra ro da!!"

"Che!"

Kashoka looks up and he sees Haiiro swinging her fan at their direction. That swing causes what almost looks like an electric slice to come at her.

"Kiiro!!" he cries, getting up. Then he yells, "Shark Spear!!" A long wooden spear with three sharp blades at the end like a triton. He lifts the spear up and yells while thrusting it down, "Teardrop Shark Tooth!!" He swings it down and it creates a brown glow similar to a shark. It over powers not only Haiiro's attack but it also destroys the kirema anima.

Haiiro looks at them and swears, "Damn it!"

Kiiro smiles and jumps on Kashoka. He turns red as she cheers, "Hooray, ra ro da!! You did it, Kashoka!" He starts to smile too and now Aka looks bored.

"Pft." He motions his hand towards them and the tree kirema anima heads for them at top speed. When Kashoka and Kiiro notice it coming, Morizaki is already in front of them.

"Snake Bow!!"

A bow and arrow appears in her hands and she aims it at the tree kirema anima. It stops in surprise of her weapon as she cries, "Diamond Snake Bite!!" Then she lets go of arrow and it heads for the kirema anima, leaving a trail of purple light that almost looks like a snake. The arrow hits the kirema anima and it falls back from the attack. Then it begins to dissolve away. Well that was easy.

Kuro smirks and whispers, "Go!" His bat kirema anima heard and goes flying towards them. Midori summons her Sais and looks at Aoi.

"Aoi!!" she calls. He looks at her as she asks, "Think you can get this one!"

He nods. "Of course." He faces the bat and summons, "Tiger Sword!" His huge sword appears before him and he accepts it. He jumps up and raises his sword over his head.

Kuro then opens his palm and a scythe appears in his hand. He grasps that and raises that above him. "Nice try!!" he yells.

"Same goes for you!!"

Kuro looks to the side and Midori is right at his side. She uses her Sais to knock the scythe right out of his hand and the action causes both of them to lose their weapons. She grabs him and pushes him down right when Aoi decides to attack.

"Star Tiger Fang!!"

A tornado of snow hits the bat kirema anima, the form almost looking like a tiger pouncing on the prey, and instantly destroys it; causing some lose snow to fall and the wind to blow. The snow and the wind distracted everyone's eyes as both Kuro and Midori end up on the ground.

Kuro looks at Midori with interested eyes as he comments, "Wow, kohakuchou-chan! You like to take things fast don't you?"

Midori grabs his shirt and lifts him up. She tells him, "Don't get cocky with me, boy! I want one answer and you're going to give it to me!"

"Do I get a kiss in return?" he asks.

"It's the kiss I want to talk about! Kuro's your name, right? Now tell me, Kuro! What the hell was that kiss for?!"

After that he just stares at her. His confused piercing blue eyes are actually starting to pierce her heart again. Her heart is pounding hard and really fast in her chest. Why is it doing this now? Then to ruin it all, Kuro smirks.

"It's my approval of you being a strong and very interesting opponent," he answers. The way he said interesting distracted her.

"Huh?"

Then he pulls another fast one on her. He lifts himself up fast enough to give her another kiss. His shirt slips from her fingers and her eyes are wide in surprise of the kiss. Then he quickly pulls away before anyone saw that and he licks his lips.

"You and I have a special relationship that no force on earth can ever destroy. You taste like kiwi strawberry, kohakuchou-chan."

After that, he teleports from under her to above her in the air. She looks up and he's there with his friends; Haiiro looks angry as Aka just looks upset like someone just insulted him in a conversation. Kuro tells announces, "I'll see ya later, kohakuchou-chan!!" Then he teleports away and his comrades soon fallow. The Ka Kas were left victorious but Midori is still sitting there, surprise.

Then Kiiro walks closer to her and asks, "Midori onee-chan, do you know that alien, ra ro da?" After she answers that, she turns red. Then she starts growling.

"That stupid alien!!!" she screams. She makes everyone jumps as she gets up and screams out a frustrated sigh. She opens her palms and her Sais appear in her hands. She looks around and the only things left are buildings. She charges up to one and starts stabbing. "Stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid, STUPID!!!! I am going to kill that alien!!!" Then she slices the building and a hole ends up being created that's about three times her size. Midori got ready to create another one when Aoi ends up grabbing her from behind.

"Midori! Calms down!" he yells.

She yells, her golden eyes blazing with rage, "Let me go, Aoi!!"

He yells, "Some help would be nice!!"

In the end, all four Ka Kas had to hold her down before she could end up destroying a building.


	6. A Snake’s Party

**A/N: Hey guys!! It's been a while! How are you all? Anyway! I just want to say that I really appreciate you all reading this story but I have to say, I kind of would like some reviews. I had like 31 people checking out this story but I only got two reviews. Ouch! So I just want to say that I would really like to see some reviews. I won't say that I won't let another chapter out until I get like ten reviews because that never worked. Even if it's flaming or criticizing me about how bad the plot is, or 'I don't get it', or even 'I don't like the characters! Too much kissing between the two'. Just saying something would be nice so I can at least fix some things for your appeal! That's all.**

**I do NOT own TMM or the songs I use in my stories. Thank you for those that did review and please keep them coming. Thank you and please enjoy!!**

Ch. 6: A Snake's Party

It's been a few days after the last alien attack and Midori has finally calmed down after that little drama. For a while, all she was doing was look gloomy. When Kiiro tried to ask her again if she knew Kuro, Midori left her in the cold and she was frozen where she was. That was a very rare case, for Midori to be that angry and for her to be able to freeze Kiiro. Besides Midori's attitude, someone else has been in different mood.

"Thank you for coming to Café Mew Mew!" Morizaki tells the male customers happily while passing them their check.

One guy decides to get smooth as he passes her a fifty thousand yen bill. "Keep the change, darling and my phone number is under that bill. Be sure to call me." Morizaki accepts the bill as she smiles at them again.

"Thank you." Then she goes off to the cash register. There she subtracts the actual amount from the fifty thousand and puts the change in her pocket. The smile is still on her face as she walks into the kitchen and throws the number away. As she goes over to deliver the next order, her friends, Kiiro and Kashoka peak their heads out from the kitchen doors and pull themselves away.

Kiiro faces Kashoka and asks, "What's that, ra ro da?! Morizaki one-chan has been happy all day today, ra ro da."

"Her birthday is coming up soon."

Both Kiiro and Kashoka look behind and they see Keiichiro with a sweet smile on his face and a sketch book in his hand.

Kashoka asks, "Her birthday?"

He answers, "Yep. Look!" He shows both of them the sketch book and both Kashoka and Kiiro lean over to look at it.

Kiiro's eyes beam and she cheers, "WOW!! It's so pretty!"

The cake is three layers, small on top of medium and medium on top of large. He used color pencils so the layers look light purple with dark purple decorations around the edge of each cake. But around the flat surface of the two bottom cakes are snakes; red snakes, blue snakes, yellow snakes, brown snakes, and green snakes. On the top of the small cake, there is a purple snake with yellow spots and it's circling the candle 17.

Keiichiro tells them, "Tomorrow is Morizaki's seventeenth birthday."

Kiiro asks, "Is there going to be a party, ra ro da?"

Keiichiro puts on an apologetic face and tells them, "Forgive me, but Morizaki said that she wanted to spend her seventeenth birthday with family."

Kiiro asks a little angry, "But aren't we family, ra ro da?!"

"Kiiro-san," Kashoka calls in a pleading matter. Then he grabs her shoulders and asks, "Let's get back to work, okay? Shirogane-san or Aoi-kun might scold us if we're not working."

Kiiro pouts and mumbles, "Alright, ra ro da." Kashoka nudges her back to work as Keiichiro goes back into the kitchen.

Kiiro looks up and sees both Aoi and Midori. She loses her anger and calls, "Aoi onii-chan!! Midori one-chan!!" Aoi looks up from ordering as Midori looks up, expressionlessly from delivering orders as Kashoka tenses up from Kiiro's yell.

"Kiiro-san!!" Kashoka calls, whispering and covering her mouth.

Aoi and Midori walk over as Aoi asks, "What's up?"

Kiiro takes Kashoka's hand off and announces, "Morizaki onee-chan's birthday is coming, ra ro da!"

Midori looks surprise, her unapproachable aura gone, as she asks, "Really?"

"Come, come, ra ro da!" Kiiro grabs Midori's hand and pulls her to the kitchen as the guys fallow.

All four of them look over the doors and they see Morizaki's face brightening up from the drawing that her father did. "Wow!" she exclaims. "It's beautiful! It's absolutely perfect."

Keiichiro asks, "Then shall I make the cake, my princess?"

Morizaki looks at him softly and tells him, "Yes, father. What made you pick snakes?"

"Well I noticed that you wanted to learn more about anacondas and figure that maybe you might like snakes on your cake."

Morizaki smiles at him and tells him, "Thank you." Then she goes up and hugs him. He hugs her back and the friends look away out of appreciation for their privacy.

"See, ra ro da!"

Aoi looks down like he's thinking as he notes, "Now that you mention it, Midori's birthday was not too long ago and she was born before Morizaki was."

"Her birthday was only a few months away from mine," she reminds, acting like she was never glooming these past few days. Then she tenses up and mumbles, "And I didn't get her a present."

Aoi looks shock as he mumbles, "Neither did I."

Kashoka gasps and mutters, "Me neither."

Kiiro remembers something and mumbles, "Oops, ra ro da!"

Oh no…

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"Okay so after work, we go shopping and just go by her house for a simple 'we came to drop off your presents since we forgot them at home'," Midori planned out.

Aoi tells her, "You do realize that the excuse sounds weak, right?"

"I can't think of anything else and besides, it's better than 'We came by to drop off these presents for you because we just came from the store and forgot that today is your birthday'." She has a point on that.

It's the next day and its Morizaki's birthday. Because they didn't go shopping yesterday was because they needed to tell their parents that they are going out and last minute does not sound like a good idea, especially for Midori's mother. Right now, it's clean up time and all of the customers are gone.

"Morizaki!"

She looks up from her sweeping and she sees Keiichiro at the doors to the kitchen. She asks, "Dad?"

He looks like he has an apologetic face as he asks, "Can you come here for a moment? I just got a call from your mother." The group looks up and hears that but they're confused. Morizaki looks a little cautious.

"Oh, okay." She leans the broom on the wall and walks over to the kitchen. Keiichiro lets her in and fallows behind her.

Kiiro wonders, "I want to know what's happening, ra ro da!"

Kashoka tells her, "We really shouldn't listen in on this, Kiiro-san."

Aoi agrees, "Kashoka's right. This is a completely different problem that we shouldn't intervene on."

"You should have thought of that when you decide to listen in on mom's and that woman's conversation," Midori reminds.

He quickly tells her, "If I didn't, then the world would have been in danger."

After that, the kitchen doors open. All of them look up and they see Morizaki rushing down the hall, where the dressing room and the bathroom are. When she went down there, she went pretty fast. Midori rushed up to the hallway and calls, "Morizaki!" But she didn't stop. She went to the bathroom and Midori watches her from in front the kitchen doors. Her friends soon join her.

Kashoka asks, "Is Morizaki-san alright?"

"So she really is upset."

They look up and they see Keiichiro. Aoi asks, "What do you mean?"

Keiichiro looks a bit sad as he answers, "Morizaki's birthday has always been one of the days she gets to see her mother. Zakuro is a very famous person so she has a hard time to get home as often as she is at work. Morizaki never blamed her because she is a very understanding person. She was looking forward for her homecoming but her mother just called and said that the flight from Germany to Japan is being held back and the chances of her coming home are very slim."

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_Ring, ring, ring_

Morizaki walks down the stairs of her home and she's a bit confused. Then she hears Keiichiro yell, "Morizaki! Can you get that?!"

"Sure!" she answers, walking down the rest of the stairs and to the front door. She opens it and the first thing she sees is a bag. She opens the door wider and she sees four people with bags. She asks, "Everyone? Why are you here?" Her friends.

Kiiro tells her, "Surprise, ra ro da!"

"Huh?" she asks, still confused.

Midori puts on a sweet face as she asks, "Morizaki, would you get angry if we tell you that we kind of forgot that today was your birthday?"

"You did?" she asks, a bit surprise.

Kashoka bows and tells her, "We are so sorry, Morizaki-san! We didn't mean to forget!"

"And to repay for that we have come here for a slumber party," Aoi says with a gentle smile on his face. "I hope you don't mind." Morizaki stares at his smile and she's blushing a bit.

Then Kiiro decides to answer for her, "Of course she doesn't mind, ra ro da! We're friends, ra ro da!" Then she goes running in, passing Morizaki. "Uncle Keiichiro, we're here, ra ro da! I'm hungry, ra ro da!"

Then Kashoka comes in and tries to take his shoes off. "Kiiro-san! Come back here!" Then he turns to Morizaki and bows. "Please excuse us!" Then he goes running off Kiiro. "Take your shoes off, Kiiro-san!!"

Midori comes in with her bag over her shoulder and Aoi with his duffle bag in hand. She turns to Morizaki and asks, "You don't mind do you? We used our shopping time to pack up and convince our parents. Not to complain but it was hard since they were playing difficult."

"Yeah, especially with her mom," Aoi reminds.

Midori turns to him and says, "Not my fault that she's a bit jumpy!"

Morizaki stares at them in surprise and looks back at where both Kiiro and Kashoka ran off to. She sees her father saying hi to Kiiro and Kashoka bows to him in return. After a few seconds, a very sweet and grateful smile appears on her face. She turns to Midori and tells them, "Of course you can stay over. Thank you."

Midori smiles and tells her, "Happy Birthday, Morizaki! You're finally as old as I am."

After a while…

"I'm tired, ra ro da!" Kiiro exclaims on her sleeping bag in Morizaki's room. Right next to her, Kashoka is lying on his sleeping bag back first with swirly eyes. Both Morizaki and Aoi are on their stomachs like Kiiro and they're panting as Midori is on her back and is panting herself.

After settling in, Keiichiro made food for all and they all decided to eat in Morizaki's room, where they're sleeping. They are all in their sleeping clothes and were mostly talking and eating some sweets that Keiichiro was able to make so quickly, including the snake cake. Then Kiiro decides to bring in some action. She grabs a pillow and throws it at Midori. Direct hit and it causes Midori to throw the pillow at her. She ducks and the pillow ends up hitting Kashoka. Then Aoi decides to join the party and soon all of them were in the middle of a pillow fight. Even Morizaki joins in and she was the one who was mostly laughing and cheering than even Kiiro. Nearly an hour later, they collapse on the ground completely exhausted and sweating from the action. Good thing that no frosting is all over the place.

Midori lets out a tired sigh and moans, "Sleep!"

Aoi orders, "Then turn off the light."

Midori groans and gets up, her body aching. She goes to the light switch and tells him, "You maybe the son of our boss but it doesn't mean you can act like him." Then she turns the light off. But as soon as she did, she sees a black shadow outside Morizaki's window. The shadow flashed in the room, blocking the moonlight and Midori lets out a small gasp in surprise. Everyone else is on their stomachs and Kashoka is already wiped out so no one else saw that.

Aoi tells her, his voice muffled from the sleeping bag, "I can act whatever I want! I'm dead tired."

Midori looks at him for a moment before answering, "Then go to sleep, you big thug. I'm going to use the bathroom! Morizaki, where is it?"

Morizaki slightly looks up at her and answers, "Down the hall and the door on the left."

"Thanks!" Then she leaves the room while the others decide to try and sleep.

Midori, instead of going to the bathroom, goes down stairs and goes to the back door. The lights are off so Keiichiro must be in bed as well. Midori scans the area for anyone just in case before she opens the back door and goes outside. Outside, there is a big garden with cement walk ways. Midori isn't surprise that Morizaki is rich, considering that her father is the best chief in Japan and her mom is a top class model, actor, singer, etc. The garden has shaped bushes of flowers, trees, and hedges all around. Midori scans the area for that weird shadow but so far nothing. Still, she has this tight feeling in her guts that tell her that something is here. So she walks down the walkway. She passes rose bushes that are round and tall trees of fruit. When she reaches the middle of it where there is a pound and water lilies inside, she got a bit irritated.

She speaks, but not too loud, "Who's there?! I know you're here so come out!" Then she feels familiar arms around her.

"Hi, baby! I missed ya!"

Midori looks over her shoulder and sees the familiar face of probably the most annoying alien on the planet, or even the world. "Kuro!"

He has that smile on his face as he snuggles closer to her, saying, "I've missed you so much, kohakuchou-chan." Then he kisses her neck and that feels really funny to Midori. She gasps in surprise of the feel of his lips on her but she doesn't give in.

Midori struggles as she tells him, "Get off me, Kuro!" She even turns around and tries to push him away.

Then he uses one arm to wrap around her waist and pull her close. Her hands on his shoulders and his free hand leaning against her cheek. His sapphire blue eyes stare down on hers as she gasps from the sharpness of his eyes staring into hers. His hand strokes her cheek, sending electric shocks through her whole body as he tells her with a hungry smirk on his face, "Since we're alone together, we can go on a date and have some fun. I can show you a really good time."

Her eyes are wide from the effect his eyes have on her as she asks with a small voice, "Fun?"

"Like kissing," he tells her. "We can start with that, my kohakuchou-chan." He closes his eyes and leans closer to her, his hand already behind her head to push her closer.

She tries to push him back but somehow, her strength seems to have weakened. She thinks, _'No! I am NOT yours!!'_ What stops Kuro from kissing her was the feel of something sharp near his throat. He stops and looks down at his shoulder and sees her Sai by his throat. She grips it tightly as she leans it a bit closer in a threatening way. He looks at her as she tells him, "Let me go right now, Kuro or you will be sorry!"

He backs away a bit but he puts on a grin and tells her, "You're a really feisty human, kohakuchou-chan. I like that that about you."

She growls and snaps, "Get a life!"

Kuro lets her go and takes a couple of steps back. She still points the Sai in his direction as he raises his palms in a peace way. "Obviously, you're not in a mood for a date, kohakuchou-chan."

"I never will be, Kuro!" she tries to tell him, but he still looks at her in a smug way.

"Things don't have to go too fast, kohakuchou-chan. I know that you'll give in soon enough."

"In your nightmares I will and stop calling me that!"

"Call you what?"

"Kohakuchou-chan! Don't call me that!"

"Why not? You're a swan aren't you? And a beautiful one at that."

That made Midori red. She flusters as she ends up lowering her Sai. Kuro smirks and takes that opportunity. He quickly rushes in front of her while she's distracted and cups her face with his hands. He then quickly gives her a peck on her lips. She steps back after the kiss and covers her mouth in surprise that it happened.

Then Kuro wags his finger in front of her and says, "You should remember that you shouldn't speak so soon about a few things. Thanks for the gift, kohakuchou-chan. Bye-bye." Then he disappears or teleports away before she could say another word. Midori uses the back of her free hand to wipe her lips from his taste and glare at the area he was just standing in.

She spits to get the remains of the taste out of her mouth as she mumbles, "Stupid alien!" Then she looks down at her hand where her Sai is and wonders, "How did this appear out of nowhere?" Then the Sai glows green and disappears. Midori stares at her now empty hand a bit longer in confusion before shrugging her shoulders and walking back inside the house. She walks back into the room and surprising, the light is on. She looks inside to find all of her friends awake and are sitting together in a circle shape.

"Everyone?" she calls, surprise as they turn to her from her entrance. She asks, "What are you guys doing up? I thought you were going to sleep?"

Morizaki tells her, "Well I was waiting for you."

Then Kiiro adds, "And the rest of us didn't want to sleep just yet, ra ro da! We want to make the most of Morizaki onee-chan's birthday while the night is still young, ra ro da."

Aoi asks her, "Where were you anyway? You were only going to the bathroom, right?"

Midori jerks from that. Everyone is staring at her, waiting for the answer. Midori thought of the only thing she could do, lie. She laughs and scratches the back of her head. "Yeah well, apparently I needed to go a lot badly then I thought I had to. Sorry about that."

_Beep_

_Beep_

"Uh?" Midori lets out, turning her head over her shoulder. Everyone heard that and only Morizaki gasps in shock. Midori asks, "What was that?"

Then before she knew it, Morizaki gets up and runs out of her room.

"Morizaki!!" her friends call, but she doesn't stop. Wondering what's wrong, they run after her.

As they all head down the stairs, the lights are on and they can hear voices.

"I'm sorry I'm so late. Is she asleep?"

"I don't think so. It's good to see you home, my darling."

When Morizaki and her friends came down the stairs and look at the front door, they see Keiichiro and Zakuro standing at a closed door; Zakuro with her coat still on. She smiles at her husband and tells him, "Good to be back, my dear." Then they hugged for a short sweet moment Morizaki was willing to give them.

"Mother?"

Both Keiichiro and Zakuro turned towards the stairs to see Morizaki and her friends behind her. They didn't say anything as Zakuro gives her daughter a sweet smile. "I'm sorry I'm late, Morizaki. I hope you're not too upset."

After that, tears started to develop in her eyes. She squeezes her eyes shut before she runs to her. "Mother!" Seconds later, her arms wrap around her mom and she holds her tight while tears roll down her face one at a time in quick moments.

Zakuro hugs her daughter back and pets the back of her head in a comforting way. "I'm sorry, sweetheart. I'm here, I'm here." Morizaki stops crying for a moment to nod in her mother's arms. Keiichiro smiles as her friends fallow shortly after him. They just stand where they are and watch. Now, they're just glad that Zakuro made it in time.

However outside, Kuro is hovering in the air and is watching the little scene through the window. His arms are crossed in front of his chest as he grins and says, "Enjoy your sweet moments while you can, Ka Kas."

Then Midori looks outside and she sees Kuro hovering in the air in front of the moon. Kuro blinks in surprise that he was caught but he soon puts on a smile and waves. She looks a bit insulted as he teleports away. Aoi sees Midori's expression and fallows her gaze out the window. But he sees nothing. He looks back at Midori and stares at her with curious, suspicious eyes.


	7. Shark Attack

Ch. 7: Shark Attack

"So how was Germany? Was it beautiful?" Mint asks Zakuro.

She answers, "It was. I brought back pictures but I have to get them printed first. I went straight home last night so I didn't have time."

Pudding tells her, "At least you made it home in time before your daughter went to bed. I call that luck."

Ichigo then lets out a sigh and mumbles, "I wish that I could go to a foreign country but the only other language I know is English and flights are so expensive now a days. You're lucky that the studio pays for your tickets."

"Yes, but I wish that I don't have to keep sending me off somewhere. Maybe I should tell them to keep the work close to home."

Lettuce asks, "But wouldn't that lessen the job opportunities?"

"Yes, but I know that it will be worth it when I can spend more time with my family than with a script."

From inside the kitchen, Midori growls. Her hands are wet and soapy as she washes the dishes with her friends and she mumbles annoyed, "Just because we have to close the café two hours early because we are having a welcome back party for Aunty Zakuro, while they are having social hour, we are cleaning dishes!"

Kashoka tries to tell her, "Midori-san, no complaining."

"Besides, you're not the only one doing dishes," Morizaki tells her. "I want to talk to my mother as much as your mother is talking to her."

"And that's another thing! It looks like the only time mom is ever so relaxed and looks like she's having fun is when she's alone with her friends! Why is she only strict with me?"

It's the next day and just like what Midori said, the café closed early so that the café can have a little welcome back/get together party. Zakuro went to Germany for a modeling tour for about two months and just got back, right in time for Morizaki's birthday. Now Midori is grumbling about how while the kids work, the adults are having fun, especially her mom. It just freaks her out.

_Alarm_

_Alarm_

Everyone turns to Aoi as he lifts his wrist up to look at his watch. He observes it a bit before gasping in surprise. Midori asks, "What's wrong?"

Aoi puts the dish down and starts washing his hands dry with a towel. He tells them, "I inserted this watch with an alien alarm so if there are any alien attacks happening, we'll know."

Kiiro asks, "Where is it?!"

Aoi looks at his watch again and answers, "Near the Tokyo Harbor!"

Quickly, all five of them started to hurry up and clean up at the speed of light. The adults stop talking when they hear the loud clutter of dishes against each other and the sound of water draining or running. Ryou asks, "What's going on in there?"

Lettuce turns to him and says, "I'll go check." She walks over to the kitchen door and when she was right in front of it, Kashoka comes out. He ends up tripping from the surprise of his mom and she catches him. "Kashoka!"

"M-Mother!" he lets out, surprise to see her.

Lettuce looks up at the others, who stopped without tripping and asks, "What are you kids doing? We heard loud noises."

Midori tries to answer, "We're just trying to finish our chores before heading out. We have something really important to do!"

Lettuce asks, "Oh? Where are you five going?" Okay, now what?!

Kashoka quickly answers, "We need to get some groceries! There are a lot of supplies that we ran out, mother."

'_Wow!'_ his friends think. _'Kashoka lied…to his MOM!!'_

Lettuce then says, "Really? Then I'll go with you. No need for all five of you to go."

Kashoka tries to tell her, "It's okay, really! We'll be very quick."

"Kashoka, we need milk, eggs, and bread anyway. I was thinking about going to the store afterwards but if we do this, and then we don't need to."

"But-"

"Hold on!" Aoi interrupts, covering Kashoka's mouth. He tries to smile as he tells Lettuce, "Alright then, but please let us talk about this." Then he pulls Kashoka back and all five go back into the kitchen. Lettuce was left blinking in confusion.

Kashoka pulls Aoi's hand off him as he asks, "Aoi-san, what was that?"

"Shh!" he tells him. He whispers, "Go with your mom and take her to the store. We'll sneak out and handle the battle."

Kashoka tries to say, "But…"

Kiiro pleads him, "Please, Kashoka. Just go with Aunty Lettuce and we'll take care of the bad guys, ra ro da." Kashoka looks at Kiiro and he seems a bit…hurt.

But Kashoka nods and answers, "Alright, I'll go but please be careful."

"We will," Aoi tells him. Then he pushes him to the door. "Now go before she gets suspicious! We'll leave a few minutes after you do so try and occupy her as long as possible." He nods again and walks out the kitchen to his mom.

About a few hours later, both Lettuce and Kashoka are finally leaving the store and they have a lot of things in their hands. Kashoka lets out a sigh in disappointment as Lettuce tries to hold all her stuff together. She asks her son, "Are you sure that this is all of the supplies that Keiichiro needs."

Kashoka looks at her and nods. "I'm sure that he needed the flour, the strawberries, the bananas, the dragon fruit, the pears, the peaches, the turnips, and the basil. Is it too heavy?"

Lettuce shakes her head. "Not really. I'm fine. But Kashoka, I know that they are your precious friends but going to the groceries store with just them is not safe now. Lately there have been a lot of dangers in the city, especially those that seem inhuman." Right after she said that, Kashoka stops walking and stares at his mom in surprise. Lettuce, noticing, stops a few steps away and turns around to face her son. "What's wrong?" she asks.

Kashoka shakes his head fast as he mumbles, "It's nothing." He looks down at the ground, not really wanting to look at his mom and have her see his feelings.

She turns completely to him and tells him, "Kashoka, you can tell me what's wrong. Did I say something upsetting? I didn't mean to be rude."

He looks back at her and says, "No, it's not that. It's just that…there is something on my mind but I can't exactly explain it."

She asks him, "What is it? You can tell me."

"Well…mom, was there ever a time in your life, like my age in which you…" he tries to say. He looks nervous and Lettuce stands before him waiting. Then right before he was going to ask, he sees something above them. He sees Haiiro and Aka with what looks like a giant eggplant kirema anima.

Haiiro fans herself as she asks, "Well, well, well, what do we have here?" Lettuce jolts from the voice and turns around to see both of them along with the kirema anima. As soon as Haiiro sees her face, her eyes widen and her smirk is long gone.

Aka seems surprise as well as he mumbles, "It's her." He looks at Haiiro and she's still looking at Lettuce in shock. Lettuce on the other hand completely turns around and gasps. By her expression, Haiiro can see that she knows what they are.

Then all of a sudden, Haiiro eyes started to glow grey and her eyes appear to be skinnier. She grits her teeth together and she opens her fan with a hard thrust. She lifts the fan over her shoulder and yells, "YOU DIE!!!" Then she swings the fan down and a huge gust of wind blows at them. Lettuce and Kashoka end up dropping their groceries and they go flying to a building. Their backs hit the wall hard and they collapse to the floor in pain as the wind died down.

Haiiro then gets ready to fly towards them but Aka lifts his arm up and stops her. He tells her, "Wait, Haiiro!"

She turns to him, still angry as she tells him, "Don't try and stop me, Aka! Do you think that I would stop you if you saw _that woman_?" Aka remains unaffected from her question.

He instantly answers, "No because I'm not you. That human is the weakest of the Ka Kas. He can't defend himself without his friends. Once we kill him, then I will allow you to do what you want with her." After that, Haiiro's eyes return back to normal but they still give off resentment for Lettuce. Seeing that she has calmed down, Aka lowers his arm and turns to the humans below them.

Both Kashoka and Lettuce get up and Lettuce coughs from the pain. She looks up at her son and he's gripping his back in pain and she sees tears peeking at his eyes. He appears to be holding the pain in but she can see how painful this is. He can't stay here. He'll get hurt.

Aka yells, "Kirema anima! Go!"

The eggplant then charges at them and Lettuce gasps in shock of seeing him come. She crawls over to her son and tells him, "Kashoka! You have to get out of here now! Go back to the café and remain there!"

He turns to her in surprise but right before he could say anything, vines grab her and pull her away. She tries to pull away as vines wrap around her wrists and her waist. She screams, "No!!" Then she was pulled away right before Kashoka's eyes.

He tries to reach for her, calling, "Mom!!"

Vines soon wrap around her body, including her throat. It wraps around her tight and Lettuce starts choking. Inside Kashoka's chest, his heart starts pounding really hard. The eggplant lifts Lettuce above him as Haiiro regains her smirk. She tells Aka, "Very well done. Thanks for the gift, Aka."

But he ignores that. His eyes are on the kirema anima and Lettuce as he orders, "Kill her."

Then Kashoka screams, "No!!" But to Lettuce's surprise, his voice sounds…angry. She opens her eyes to look at her son and his eyes are glowing red. She sees sharp teeth in his mouth and he has his fists in tight balls. The weird part is that he's not even transformed yet. Both Haiiro and Aka are startled by his reaction as he lifts his sleeve up. There, his charm hangs on his wrist like a bracelet and he cries, "Ka Ka Shark Metamorphosis!!"

Lettuce's eyes widen as she wonders, _'What?!'_

Then his whole body glows brown. Only seconds later, he revealed to his mom his Ka Ka form. But instead of seeing the face of her caring, sweet son, she sees the face of a very angry creature. He appears to have the same features as Kashoka but that's not him. His eyes are flaming red and he looks vicious. He leaps up at the eggplant and he punches the eggplant. He falls to the ground and lets Lettuce go. She lands on the ground and coughs from the lack of oxygen. Kashoka looks at her when she fell and turns his attention back to the kirema anima.

Haiiro and Aka are in shock as she wonders, "What the heck?"

Lettuce looks up and sees Kashoka charging at the kirema anima. He jumps up and yells, "Now you die!!" He lands on the kirema anima and beats it senseless. The other surprising thing is that when he could, he would comp on the kirema anima and as it screams, Kashoka tears off a piece and chomps again after spitting out the pieces. Lettuce watches in horror as Haiiro and Aka are still in shock of his behavior.

Soon enough, the kirema anima was no more and all there was left was pieces of eggplant on the ground and there's a parasite alien in two on the ground. Kashoka looks up at the aliens and he still looks like the vicious animal. For one moment, a sting of fear hits their hearts and instantly, Haiiro places her hand on Aka's shoulder. Aka looks up at her as she tells him, "Let's leave. We lost but we've gathered some interesting information. We need to report to Kuro." Aka nods and both of them teleport back to their ship. Moments after they left, Kashoka's eyes return back to his brown ones and he shakes his head in surprise.

'_What was I… doing?'_ he wonders, staring at his hands and tasting the taste of eggplant that still lingers in his mouth.

"Kashoka?"

He looks up and he sees Lettuce standing up and taking small short steps towards him. She asks, "What's going on?" Instead of answering right away, Kashoka looks at her with a sorrowful look.

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'_Keki, I…I…I slept with another woman!'_

_Keki's sapphire blue eyes widen in surprise as she stops walking where she is. Kisshu is leaning over the table behind her. He mumbles, his voice full of tragic, 'I am so sorry.'_

_Keki places a hand over her heart and it's pounding. Each beat fills her body with painful betrayal and sadness. She closes her eyes and asks, 'Was it…with her? The one you spoke of before?'_

_Kisshu nods. 'Yes. She was lonely and so vulnerable. I don't deserve forgiveness. It's even more disgusting that I did it while you're with our child.' Keki places a hand over her giant womb and turns around to face her husband. He doesn't even look at her as he tells her again, 'I am so sorry.'_

'_You feel guilt for what you did and you told me instead of hiding it from me. I feel no ill feelings against you, my love,' she tells him as she walks closer to him and places her hands on his arm. She leans on them for a small bit of comfort as he looks at her, his eyes still sorry but with a hint of surprise mixed in._

'_But!'_

'_Enough!' she tells him with a stern voice. She grasps his hand and places it over her large stomach. She tells him, 'This is your punishment for what you did.' After moments later, there was a small kick. Kisshu gasps and looks at Keki, her eyes so warm and her smile so gentle. 'Your punishment is finished. I understand, Kisshu. She wasn't the only one who was vulnerable at the time, was she? You were too. You know I love you and I always will. However, that sort of love I have will never be returned to me from you because you gave that love to someone else. You were only consoling her, correct? If I was married to someone else, then I would do the same if you ever needed someone to be there.'_

_Kisshu's eyes soften and his hand goes to her beautiful black hair. He strokes it and asks, 'What did I ever do to deserve you?'_

_Her warm hand grasps his and she answers, 'Just for being born, my love. It's because our god wanted us to be together, to support the other and I'm happy he made that decision.' After that, Kisshu pulls her closer and he leans to her face. He gives her a sweet and gentle kiss before he wraps his arms around her, being gentle since she is with child._

'_Thank you, Keki.'_

After that, Kuro snaps his eyes open and sits up. He's on the ground and he was lying down with his closed fist over his forehead. As he sits up, he opens his closed hand and stares down at the black hair strand he collected when that hologram was sliced in two. He wonders, _'Mother…why did you leave us so soon? Father still needed you.'_

"Yo, Kuro!!"

He closes his hand and looks up to see Haiiro and Aka gliding down to the ground. Kuro quickly puts the hair strand away in his pocket as he stands up and greets when they landed, "How was your mission?"

Aka reported, "Failed."

"Really?" he asks, a bit surprised. "How so? That shark wasn't with the others before and from what we know, he can't do anything by himself. It should have been easy to eliminate him."

"Yeah, well here's where things get interesting," Haiiro tells him. Kuro looks at her, waiting for what she has to say. She tells him, "His mom was with him when we attacked and when her pathetic life was in danger, he cracked."

Kuro raises a brow and asks, "Oh?"

"Defeated the kirema anima like a maniac on a killing spree. He went crazy and in front of his own mother too!"

Kuro puts a grin on and bites his nail in satisfaction. He says, "Maybe because of his DNA, he was able to do that. Sharks can't resist the urge to kill." Haiiro ends up smirking.

"He hee. Let's do a little experiment. I want to see what can really push him over the edge and see what he can do. After all just like you said, sharks can be pretty deadly when they're hungry."

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It's the next day, well the end of the next day because the Ka Kas are cleaning up the café and things are quiet. There is some suspicion on Kashoka. He's always been a bit quiet, at times but now he is really quiet and when he was talking to the others, because either he dropped a plate or he needed to ask about the order, he didn't look at them in the eye. His eyes were down all day. Even Kiiro notices his behavior and shows publically her concern for him.

Then she got enough.

"Kashoka!!" she calls after throwing down the wash cloth. The others look at her in surprise of her outrage as she stomps over to Kashoka and yells, "Tell me what's going on, ra ro da!"

"Huh?" he asks surprise by that.

She yells, "Don't give me that, ra ro da!! You've been quiet all day and you've not once looked at me in the eye, ra ro da! Usually I would be kinder about this but how you're acting is really irritating me, ra ro da!!" After that, she lets out a sigh and crosses her arms in front of her. "Now tell me what's wrong, Kashoka so I can help you, ra ro da. I'm worried, ra ro da."

The others watch in amazement that she just did that. They were hoping that maybe nothing was wrong and that Kashoka was only acting like this for a short moment. But probably, Kiiro is the most concerned of them all; that's why she acted like that.

Moments later, Kashoka puts on a guilty face as he confesses, "Yesterday, Haiiro and Aka attacked both me and my mother. I had no choice. I had to transform in front of her to save her." All four of them gasp in shock.

They asks, "You did what?!!"

Then he bows and says, "I am so sorry! I also had to tell her about the Ka Ka project, how we know about the Mew Mew project, and what's been going on lately. I even told her about the dangers we've been facing, even though it was only two battles."

Aoi lets out a sigh as he pinches his temples. He mutters, "Idiot!"

Morizaki turns to him and reminds, "He said that he had no choice. We didn't know about the attack because we were still fighting Kuro. He did what he thought he had to."

Midori asks Kashoka, "Why didn't you just tell us?"

Kashoka tells them, "The reason why I didn't tell you sooner is because I didn't want to say what mom wanted me to say to you."

"What do you mean?" she asks.

Kiiro drops her arms as she watches Kashoka stand up straight and look at her only as he says, "Mom wants me to quit being a Ka Ka because she doesn't me to get hurt not only physically, but mentally too."

No one said anything. They're too shock as Kiiro is the one with the big wide eyes. Kashoka looks down, not wanting to see his friend's faces after he said that. Now what?

_Alarm_

_Alarm_

They all look at Aoi as he looks at his watch and says, "There's an alien attack not far from here! It's in the middle of the park!"

"Already?" Midori asks.

Aoi grunts, "Stubborn creatures." Then he looks at the team and tells them, "Let's go!"

"Right!"

Then they started to run, all but Kashoka. He stays where he is with his broom in hand. Kiiro became the one to notice that he's not with them. Because she stopped, they all stopped. "Kashoka!" she calls. He looks up at her as she reminds, "There's an attack, ra ro da! We need to go, ra ro da!"

Then he says, "But I told you, I have to quit."

Kiiro goes up to him and slaps the broom away from his hands. "Your mama told you to quit, ra ro da! You can choose rather to go along with it or come with us!" Then her face got softer as she pleads, "Please, Kashoka. I don't want you to be lonely, ra ro da."

Just outside the café through a window that saw everything, Aka is there. His eyes are on Kiiro as she continues to look at Kashoka with pleading eyes. He stares at her for a moment later before he teleports away to report his sightings.

Soon the Ka Kas started rushing to the center of the park, Kashoka included and all of them are transformed. Humans are running all over the place, trying to get away as the aliens are using their attacks to hurt them. Haiiro is having fun making the humans fly through the air, Aka uses his axe to slice the ground and make earthquake cracks, causing them to fall in, and Kuro uses his scythe to slice the trees so that they can land on the humans while they're running, if they can. The humans didn't even notice five people who look half animal since they're running for their lives. Soon the humans are gone and now the aliens and the Ka Kas can fight.

"Hi, baby!" Kuro greets as soon as he sees Midori. "How's my little kohakuchou-chan?"

Midori yells, "I am NOT yours, Kuro!! How can you three keep disturbing the peace over and over again? What reason do you have for doing this?"

Haiiro and Aka look a bit upset from her question but Kuro looks perfectly at ease. He answers, "Personal reasons, kohakuchou-chan. Maybe if you come with me, I'll tell you."

"Not on your life, creep!!"

"Well then, you can die like the vermin you humans are!" Haiiro screams. "Go, kirema anima!!" Then out of the wishing fountain that was there, a monster arises. This kirema anima looks like it's made of coins and water. It has a human shape but it's twenty times bigger and the armor looks like the money inside that wishing fountain. Haiiro chuckles, "Let's see how well you five can handle against your wishes." Then it charges.

"Look out!!" Midori yells, jumping away. The others soon fallow as the kirema anima uses it's arm to try and hit them. It crashes into the floor and creates a big splash.

The splash was so big that anyone from the streets can see it, even Lettuce who was driving over to the café to pick up her son. She saw that blast and soon, fleeing humans start coming out of the sea of trees. She parks the car on the side and stares at the big splash. Only one thought came to her mind.

'_A kirema anima attack?'_ She gasps in realization and mumbles, "Kashoka!" Then she starts running over to the area, some humans distracting her since she's going the 'wrong' way.

Kuro grins and raises his sycthe. He thrusts it down and the slice heads for Morizaki. She didn't notice it until she felt something sharp on her arm. She winces in pain and grabs the area she got slice, her outfit getting slice too. Kashoka, the one closest to her, gasps and asks, "Morizaki-san, are you alright?"

Morizaki answers, "I'm fine." Then she removes her hand and it's covered in blood. As soon as Kashoka saw that, his whole body jerks and he can actually smell the iron blood from only a foot away.

Haiiro smirks in satisfaction of that. "Seems to be working. How about we try some more?" She raises her fan and calls, "Blade of Thunder!!" Then she thrusts it down and a bolt of lightening aims at Midori. It slices her arm and she instantly grasps it. She looks at her hand and she's bleeding too.

Kuro uses his sycthe again as his attacks aim for Aoi this time. The attack hits his leg and Aoi is on his knees in pain as that cut is bleeding too. Midori sees that and gasps. She rushes over to Aoi and asks, "Aoi, are you alright?"

He looks at her and answers, "I'll live. You?"

"I'm fine."

As soon as Kuro sees that, his eyes blaze with anger and he grits his teeth in frustration.

Aka raises his axe and throws it. Like a boomerang, the axe aims for Kiiro but she dodges it. Then it comes back and slices her shoulder from behind. "Aah!!" she screams. Kashoka didn't hear her. He just smells her blood as Aka's axe comes back and he catches it. He looks at his weapon to see her blood and sniffs it.

He notes, "The scent of blood of that witch." He looks back, his eyes going to Kashoka who is now holding his head and his heart is pounding really hard in his chest. Each breathe he takes in makes the pulse stronger. He looks worst now that Kiiro's blood is in the air, another interesting scene for the aliens to take in.

Morizaki asks, noticing his behavior, "Kashoka, what's wrong?"

Hearing her, the Ka Kas look up at him and they see how uncomfortable he is. He doesn't answer Morizaki's question. Aoi mumbles, "Something is wrong."

Kiiro gasps and is instantly terrified. She yells, "Kashoka!! Calm down, ra ro da!!" He looks up at her with a helpless expression and his eyes are already red.

"Kiiro-san…"

Haiiro turns to Aka and tells him, "Aka, I believe that you deserve to push one last time."

"Save your sweet talk for Kuro, Haiiro." Then he charges at Kiiro.

Right before Kashoka's eyes, Aka ends up behind Kiiro. When she notices him, it was too late. By the time she turned around, Aka hits her hard at her side. Kashoka gasps in horror as he calls, "Kiiro!!" She heads for a tree and her back hits it hard. She falls to the ground and doesn't get up. The other Ka Kas gasp in horror as Aka stares at her emotionless.

Kuro claps and says, "I give him a ten."

Haiiro says, "I give him a five. He went easy on her when he has no reason too."

Midori hears that and growls. She stands up and summons her Sais. She yells, "Kuro, unforgivable!!"

He tells her, "You really should start worrying about yourself, kohakuchou-chan. You're in more danger from your own than from us."

"Uh?"

They all look at Kashoka and he doesn't look helpless anymore. A brown light starts to give off from his body like mist and he's gritting his teeth really hard for others to hear. His nails are growling longer and sharper and when he looks up, his eyes are pure black; like a shark ready to attack. Midori asks, "Kashoka?"

He didn't answer. Instead, he goes right pass her in unbelievably fast speed. When they turn around, they see that he's aiming for Aka. Right before Kashoka could slice him, Aka teleports and Kashoka ends up slamming his claws into the ground. The impact of his attack creates a big splash of dirt to fly in the air and he ends up creating a big hole. When Aka appears back with his team Kuro and Haiiro are laughing.

Haiiro yells out, "Amazing! This is amazing!! For such a weakling, he's got some power in him."

Kuro adds, "Too bad he doesn't know how to control it. Lack of confidence, I would say."

Kashoka faces them and they stopped. He was going to charge at them but then he smells something. He made a scene of that and when he turns to his companions, the fear hit them hard. Aoi reminds, "Sharks have a high sense of smell and when they smell blood, they give in to the hunger."

Midori concludes, "That's why they cut us."

Morizaki adds, "Kiiro and Kashoka have been good friends since they born. Seeing her get hurt must have pushed him too far."

"Correct," Haiiro whispers in her ear. Before Morizaki could react, Haiiro grabs her good arm and twists it behind her.

"Aah!" she yells in pain.

Midori and Aoi look at her as Haiiro uses her free hand to grab her wounded arm. She shows it to Kashoka and yells, "You want it, come and get it!" And he did. He charges at Morizaki and Haiiro teleports away. Morizaki only had little time to get out of the way.

Midori calls, "Morizaki!!"

Aoi yells, "Kashoka! Snap out of it!"

Hearing them, Kashoka turns to them and now they have a creepy feeling in their guts. He charges at them and they split. Midori lands on the ground and into someone's arms. She didn't have to guess who it was.

Kuro holds her tighter as he tells her, "I can still take you away, kohakuchou-chan." She turns around and pushes him away.

"I will never go with you!!" Right after that, she senses danger. She turns to the side and Kashoka crashes into her.

Kuro just stands there before lifting his arms up like a W and say, "Oh well." Then he teleports back to his friends to watch the show.

Kiiro squirts her eyes shut before opening them. The first thing she feels is the stinging pain in her shoulder and the aching pain in her back. She closes her eyes and squirts as she lifts herself up. Her arm with the bleeding shoulder weakens and she stumbles. But she lifts herself up with her good arm and stands up. She leans on the tree for a moment to breathe before turning around to a frightening sight. Her eyes widen as she sees Kashoka with black eyes, a vicious unfamiliar face, and his actions towards the others.

Kashoka went from on top of Midori to Aoi when he took his attention. Kashoka tries to push Aoi back as Aoi has his sword up and he's trying to push him back. But Aoi is being over powered because his leg still hurts from before. Soon Kashoka pushes down on him so much that Aoi's on his knees. Then Kashoka pushes himself up to try and kick Aoi's head off. Aoi ducks and drops his sword. Kashoka tries to go after him with his claws and his teeth hungry for his flesh.

"What, ra ro da?" she asks, out loud. Then she puts a brave face on and yells, "Kashoka!!"

Everyone looks towards her and she has her hand on her shoulder as she takes a few steps closer to Kashoka. "Kashoka, what's wrong with you, ra ro da?"

Midori yells, "Kiiro! He's out of control! The scent of our blood is making him crazy!" Then Kashoka appears behind Kiiro. "Behind you!!"

When Kiiro looks behind, Kashoka tries to claw her. She ducks down and does a back flip to get away. When she stands up, she winces in pain from the cut on her shoulder. She didn't have time to try and rest. Kashoka attacks again and she dodges. She walks backwards and doges his attacks as he keeps coming at her with a slice or kick.

She tries to call, "Kashoka!! It's me, ra ro da? Don't you know me?!" He didn't slow down. He just keeps coming after her like a predator and a wounded prey.

"Kiiro!" Midori calls, ready to charge at them and help her friend. But then she feels two hands on her wrists and pulls her back. She looks behind and she sees Kuro.

"Let's not disturb those two, shall we kohakuchou-chan?" Kuro asks in seductive voice.

Aka grabs Aoi's arm and twists it behind him while his other arm is wrapped around his neck to stop him from moving. Haiiro does the same thing she did last time to Morizaki but this time, her free hand that is not gripping her arm, grasps the cut and makes Morizaki to fall to her knees in pain. Kuro is the only one holding a Ka Ka gently, but still tightly.

Kuro tries to struggle as she yells, "Let go of me, you cold-hearted bastard!!"

Then his grip got tight and he wraps his arms around her, crossing her arms over her body. He tells her, "Just watch, kohakuchou-chan." Midori gasps in small surprise. His voice sounded like ice when his breathe warms her ear and her heart starts to pace. But the sound of Kiiro and Kashoka distract her from that.

Kiiro keeps dodging the attacks as she tries to say, "Kashoka! Stop this! You don't want to do this!" But he did not listen. He keeps trying to attack her and his face…his face is terrifying.

_**Kiiro-san!**_

Kiiro's eyes start to sting with tears as she can remember so clearly his gentle face and his caring voice every time he calls her name.

'_No!'_ she thinks. _'This can't go on any longer!'_

Then she does the most surprising thing to any of the Ka Kas and the aliens. She stops dodging and rushes to him before he attacks her with his claws. Being quick with his reflexes as her arms begin to wrap around him, Kashoka grabs her and bites her; his sharp teeth piercing the flesh on her shoulder. The Ka Kas and the aliens remain silent as Kiiro squirts her eyes shut, not making a sound with the terrible pain added to her already wounded shoulder. Her arms are still wrapped around Kashoka and he remains perfectly still, not biting again to feed on her flesh. Blood drips down her back, causing her outfit to stick to her skin and for the smell of blood to get worst in the air. Still, Kashoka did not continue to bite.

Kiiro pants from the pain before trying to bring herself closer to him and mumbles, "I'm alright, Kashoka." For one instant, Kiiro felt his body jolt. Then the tears started to fall down her face but not tears of pain, tears of fear. "Please come back, ra ro da. I love you, my friend, ra ro da. Come back, ra ro da. I believe in you, ra ro da."

There was another moment of silence before Kashoka's eyes turn from black to back to his normal brown ones. He opens his mouth and releases Kiiro's flesh. His friends and the aliens stare in amazement as Kashoka pulls himself back and stares at Kiiro. Her eyes widen as she sees his face again; the face of the Kashoka she knows. He asks, "Kiiro-san? Are you alright?"

Her eyes are overflowing with tears as she closes her eyes and jumps on him. "Kashoka!!" Then she starts sobbing as he holds her to keep her close. "Kashoka!! I was so scared, ra ro da!"

He holds her close and tells her, "I'm sorry, Kiiro-san. I am so sorry."

Then being distracted, Midori took action. She uses her moment of surprise to hit Kuro in the nuts with her elbow. He gags in pain and in surprise as she gets out of his hold and summons her Sais really quickly. "Circle Swan Wing!!" Her attack hits him and he goes flying into the trees.

Aoi and Morizaki do the same thing. They hit their captures away, not in the same place, and quickly summon their weapons.

"Star Tiger Fang!!"

"Diamond Snake Bite!!"

Like Kuro, both Aka and Haiiro go flying to the trees and crash into ones. On the ground, they try to lift themselves up but with terrible pains from the surprise hits and the additional pain of the trees. Both Kashoka and Kiiro gasp in surprise of that noise and look to see the aliens like that. Haiiro looks pissed!

"Damn you!!" she curses. "Go, kirema anima!!"

The wishing money kirema anima charges at the ones closets to him, Kiiro and Kashoka. Before Kiiro knew it, Kashoka lets go of Kiiro and steps in front of her.

"You tried to make me hurt my precious friends!! I will not forgive you for this!! Shark Spear!!" His weapon appears before him and he grasps it. He jumps up in the air and raises his spear before him. "Teardrop Shark Tooth!!" he cries, swinging it down. This time when his attack hit the kirema anima, it appears bigger than before. The shark light is bigger and it swallows the kirema anima whole before making it explode. It started to rain with the fountain water and the coins. Kiiro ends up smiling as Kashoka lands on the ground. He lets his weapon disappear as he exhales slowly, finally it's over.

Midori, Aoi, and Morizaki stand where they are and look up as the water continue to fall, along with all the money as well. The aliens stand up and stay dry from the shade of the trees. Now Haiiro looks really angry.

"Why those-"

She was going to charge at them but Aka sticks his arm up and blocks her path. She asks him, "What the hell are you doing?!"

Aka tells her, "We are going to retreat. We've lost for today."

"What?" she asks, shocked. "We can still fight!"

But Kuro tells her, "Aka is right, Haiiro. Let's retire for the day. That Ka Ka put up quite a show." Then he teleports away and the others fallow, Haiiro unwilling.

"Yeah!! Free tips, ra ro da!!" Kiiro cheers.

Kashoka turns to her and sees her trying to catch as much money as she can. He tries to tell her, "Kiiro-san, that's not ours." Kiiro turns towards him as he says, "They're somebody's wishes. We can't take that."

Kiiro looks disappointed as she pouts. "You're right, ra ro da…" He smiles and places his hand on her head in an approving way.

Then Midori jumps on him and hugs him, "Hoory, you're back!!"

Kashoka turns flaming red as he lets out, "Midori-san?!" He's surprise and embarrassed.

Aoi walks over with Morizaki fallowing him and all of them have smiles on. Aoi says, "It's good to have you back, buddy. You did a good job today."

Then Kashoka remembers something. "How are your injuries?"

Morizaki tells him, "We'll be fine. It's only a scratch. We're more concern about your well being."

"Morizaki-san…"

Aoi notes, "It's too bad that the aliens miscalculated our friend here or we're all be in trouble here."

Midori gets off Kashoka as he looks confused as well as Kiiro. Kiiro asks, "What do you mean, ra ro da?"

"Whale Sharks are different from regular sharks. They don't eat the flesh of a fish," he answers. Kashoka and Kiiro are surprise to hear that. He continues, "They're mostly whales because they eat quills and they're gentle to humans. The smell of blood did intimate you because you're still a shark but Whale Sharks are not flesh eaters. That's part of the reason why you came back to your senses. The other reason was because Kiiro brought you back."

"So," Kiiro starts, getting their attention, "I saved the day, ra ro da?"

"Well you did start it since he went crazy after you were hurt so it only makes sense for you to make up for it." Now Kiiro looks like she was insulted and is going to cry about it as Kashoka starts to panic from that expression.

He tries and say, "Kiiro-san, please don't cry!"

"I'm not going to cry, ra ro da!" she tells him. "But I am going to hug you for saving me, ra ro da." She jumps on him and hugs him. "Thank you, ra ro da."

'_Truth is, I heard what both Kuro and Haiiro said about me having lack of confidence,'_ Kashoka thinks, looking down on Kiiro. _'But with this angel by my side, I can slowly gain courage and the confidence to control the animal inside me. Especially with my cool friends.'_ Then he hugs her back to return the affection. The others just smile at the cute scene.

"Kashoka!"

All of them look up and they see Lettuce. She comes out from hiding behind a tree and both Kiiro and Kashoka parted after seeing her. Kashoka acknowledges, "Mom! Were you watching?" Lettuce nods and she forms a sweet smile on her face.

"I did and I am very proud of you." Okay, that set them off guard. Then she tells them, "When I was your age, I was just like you. I lacked the confidence I needed to stand up for myself. I let people push me around and make do things I didn't want to do, but then I met better friends and they helped me give the courage I need to stand on my own. However!" Her smile fades away as she tells him, "I do not approve of you running off and fighting. You can get hurt and I don't know if I can bear it if I lost you. But if you believe that this is what you need to do, then you and I will talk and I want to see if you can convince me to let you do this."

Midori, Aoi, Morizaki, and Kiiro look up at Kashoka and he doesn't look nervous at all. In fact, he looks almost daring. He tells her, "I accept, mother."


	8. Friends With a Monkey

Ch. 8: Friends With a Monkey

"Storm Fan!!"

Haiiro swings her fan at some of the ruins that's flying around and her attack destroys it. Now there are rubble flying around. Haiiro still looks angry as she raises her fan again.

"Haiiro! Stop it!" Aka orders.

She does and she turns around to see Aka lying on his back in the purple abyss and he looks too relaxed for her taste. She asks, "How the hell can you just lay back when those pesky Ka Kas beat us again?!"

"I'm doing it, aren't I?" he asks her. That just makes her more angry. Then he opens his eyes and stares up. He mutters, "That girl, Kiiro. She really is an interesting girl."

Now Haiiro looks appalled. She asks him, "Are you out of your mind?! Don't you remember whose blood is in her veins?!" He doesn't look at her. He just closes his eyes and continues to lie there as if he's trying to sleep. Then Haiiro gasps, "You like her? You like that bastard of a child?!"

That time, he looks at her. He tells her, "That's none of your business. Is it, Haiiro?" Now she's growling. She nearly crushes the fan in her hand as she turns around, not wanting to look at him.

"I'm going for a walk!!" Then she teleports away.

Aka flips over so that he can be in a standing position as he mutters, "Knowing her teleportation skills, she might end up going for a swim instead." After that, there was a moment of silence. His mind started to wonder but he ends up speaking them. "What's taking Kuro so long to report?" Then he gasps in surprise and realization. "Don't tell me!" Then he teleports away and when he arrives, he hears trashing, screaming, and he sees Kuro on top of a grown up alien man with a knife in the man's hand. Kuro has his hands holding the man's wrists as he pushes him back. But the man is still trashing.

Kuro yells, "Father, calm down!!" He did not listen. Kuro sees something at the corner of his eye and he sees Aka standing there in shock. He yells, "Aka! Get me the sleeping drug!! It's in the cupboard!!"

Aka snaps back into reality and looks around for the cupboard in the room. When he finds it in the corner, not too far from him, he rushes over to it and opens it. He sees a needle with a yellow fluid inside of it already and lifts it up to show to Kuro. He nods and Aka rushes over to them while pulling the plastic cover off the needle. Kuro pins his father down to the bed and Aka took that chance to inject the sleeping drug into the man's veins. Kuro's father tries to pull himself up one more time but then it began to weaken. In his hand, he drops the knife and his eye lids feel heavy. Seconds later, he collapses on the bed and falls asleep. Both Aka and Kuro exhale in relief.

Kuro jumps off his father and stands next to the bed while fixing the bed to properly tuck him in. Kuro tells Aka with a dry voice, "Thanks for coming when you did."

Aka asks, a bit sorrowful, "He's already gotten this bad?"

Kuro lays the sheets over his father and answers, "Yeah. At first, he didn't even know who I was. I had to remind him before he started to think that I was going to hurt him. I just came to report to him of what happened yesterday and he tried to commit suicide." Kuro reaches over and grasps the knife that his father dropped. Aka's eyes are filled with pity and apologetic feelings as he continues to stare at the back of Kuro. "Aka!"

Aka jumps from the call of his name as he asks, "Yes?"

Kuro looks over his shoulders at him and they give off an icy glare. "Where's Haiiro?"

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"Do you think it's going well, ra ro da?" Kiiro asks, a bit worried for her friend on the other side of the door.

Midori has her ear against the wooden door as she answers while whispering, "I can't tell. They're hardly talking or they're talking way too soft."

It's the next day since the aliens tried to use Kashoka to kill the Ka Kas but thanks to Kiiro, that plan failed. But now Lettuce knows about that Ka Ka project, the aliens are back after almost twenty years, and her son is fighting them! Lettuce said that she would talk with Kashoka to see if he really wants to go through with fighting but she said that they will talk about it the next day for it was a long day and everyone needed their rest. Kiiro had to explain to her mom, when she saw the wound of how she got it that she was practicing a trick and a broken plate hit her shoulder. Aoi, Morizaki, and Midori used the same excuse by saying that Kiiro was practicing a trick and it failed, causing her to drop plates and hurt all but Kashoka since he was in the kitchen washing the dishes. Kashoka didn't have to make excuses to his mom since she saw the whole thing.

Now it's the next day, the cleaning is done, Kashoka and his mom are in a separate room to talk, and the others are on the other side of that door, listening; well Midori and Kiiro are. Aoi and Morizaki are watching since they don't know what else to do.

Morizaki bends over and tells the others, "Nosing into other's business is what kids do."

Both Midori and Kiiro stand up and tell her, much to her surprise, "I am not a child/, ra ro da!" Did she say that they are?

_Alarm_

_Alarm_

All three of them look at Aoi and he looks at his watch for the info. He tells them, "There's an alien attack at a construction site!"

Midori groans and mumbles, "Don't those guys ever heard of a break?!"

"No rest for the wicked, they've always said," Aoi says. "Let's go!"

"Wait, ra ro da!" Kiiro yells. "What about Kashoka?"

Aoi reminds her, "He has family problems to take care of and the aliens might use his anger against us again."

Kiiro stomps her foot like a child and crosses her arms in front of her. She tells them, "I am not leaving without Kashoka!" Then she turns around and opens the door. The others didn't have time to stop her as she yells out, "Kashoka, there's an alien attack at a construction site, ra ro da!"

Kashoka, who was sitting down across from his mom, stands up and asks, "Already?"

"Let's go, ra ro da!" She leaves the door open but she goes running.

Kashoka turns to his mom and bows. "Please excuse me, mother."

"Kashoka!" she calls, standing up herself. He stops at the door and looks over his shoulder to look at her. She exhales and smiles. "Be careful."

Kashoka's face brightens up as he turns to her and bows. "Yes, mom! I'll come back, I promise!" Then he goes through the door and runs after his friends who already left.

Lettuce just grips her hand before bringing it to her lips in a praying position and tears prickling down her face. "Please be safe and don't get hurt, like I did."

When the Ka Kas arrived at the construction site where Aoi claims that there is an alien attack, they see Haiiro and what looks like a giant crab kirema anima. She's soaking wet as she turns around and greets, "Hello, mortals! Prepare to die? You're all going to die for what happened yesterday!"

Kiiro just asks, "Why are you soaking wet, ra ro da?" Haiiro got angry.

"Shut up!!" she screams. "Just hurry up and transform!"

"Gladly," Midori answers while revealing her charm bracelet. "Ka Ka Swan Metamorphosis!!"

"Ka Ka Tiger Metamorphosis!"

"Ka Ka Shark Metamorphosis!!"

"Ka Ka Monkey Metamorphosis!!"

"Ka Ka Snake Metamorphosis!!"

All five of them transform into their Ka Ka form and Haiiro chuckles. She points at them and cries, "Go kirema anima!!" The crab charges at them and sends a claw at their way.

Midori asks, "Aren't you a little tired of having your kirema anima do all the work, Haiiro?!"

She got angry again. "Shut up, human!! Besides, it's more entertaining to see your precious mother nature go against you!"

"You're a brat, you know that right?" she asks, landing on the ground.

Kashoka tries to say, "Midori-san, please!"

"Well she is!"

Haiiro yells, "Be lucky, you old bat that you're not at the top of my list!!" Besides being called an 'old bat', Midori has to admit that what she just said is curious.

The crab charges again and misses since they all jump up. Kiiro lands further up right before the crab crashes its claw again at the ground. But this time, Kiiro jumps forward, towards the construction building. She lands on the metal bars and the crab turns around to attack her again. All of the Ka Kas notice that.

Morizaki yells, "Kiiro, look out! It's after you!"

Kiiro flinches as the crab gets ready to attack again. She yells, "You've got to be kidding me, ra ro da!!" right before she jumps to avoid the hit. Haiiro starts to smirk in delight of watching this little act.

"Now this is more like it," Haiiro mumbles. "Now let's see how interesting she'll be when she's dead. Although, Aka might kill me for this since she is his target. But its better this way than becoming his love target like that idiot!" Then Haiiro uses her fan to create a gust of wind. It hits Kiiro to stop her from jumping as the next claw attack comes at her.

Kashoka summons his spear and he cries, "Teardrop Shark Tooth!!" His attack hits the claw and it misses Kiiro, just above her. Then there was rubble falling down. Kashoka gasps and screams, "Kiiro!!"

Kiiro ends up jumping off the building but that wasn't the smartest move to make because she's now aiming for a hole that the crab created and there is some rubble that's coming down with her. She did the only thing she could thing of at the time.

"Monkey Rope!"

She grasps her weapon and cries, "Heart Monkey Rope!!" Her rope reaches out to grab something that could save her but the thing it grabbed was Haiiro's foot.

"What?" she exclaims surprise and Kiiro gasps in the wrong catch. Now she's pulling Haiiro down with her. Both of them fall into the hole and the long metal bars, the cement, and rocks fall on top of the hole.

"Kiiro!!" Midori calls. But when the dust cleared, all they see is a pile of rubble over the hole, like a tiger trap in the ground. Aoi and Morizaki have a shock face on and before anyone knew it, Kashoka charges at the kirema anima.

Morizaki calls, "Kashoka!!"

But he didn't listen. They watch him jump in the air and punch the grab into the ground. It's head starting to crack. They see him with red eyes and a vicious expression. He's angry.

After nearing cracking it's head open, Kashoka grabs a claw and pulls. He cracked the claw off as if he was having a steamed crab for dinner. After breaking the arm off, he gets ready to go for the other when he got hit by a snow tornado.

"Star Tiger Fang!!" Aoi calls, sending his attack at Kashoka.

Kashoka didn't expect that to happen as the snow storm, shaped like a tiger charges at him. It attacks him and he goes flying back. Midori flies over behind Kashoka and catches him. They both crash into the ground as the crab kirema anima tries to attack both of them with his other good claw.

"Diamond Snake Bite!!" Morizaki aims her arrow before releasing it on the crab. It got hit and is pushed back. Its collapse causes a small earthquake but the Ka Kas didn't care at the moment. They rush to Midori and Kashoka as she grabs him and shakes him.

"Now you listen to me!" Midori yells. "Kiiro isn't dead so stop acting like she is!" Midori pauses to let that sink in a bit as she can see Kashoka's eyes returning to his brown ones and his expression relaxing into surprise.

"Midori's right, Kashoka," Aoi tells them. He looks up at him as Morizaki told him the rest.

"Let's take care of this kirema anima first and then we'll unbury Kiiro. She can wait but not too long. Kashoka, we need your help with this okay?"

Slowly, Kashoka nods and answers, "Alright." _'Please, Kiiro! Wait for us!'_

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"Stupid!! Stupid!! Stupid!! STUPID!!"

Kiiro woke up, hearing that.

Haiiro vents, "Why oh why didn't I push her off when I could!! Now I'm stuck here with an unconscious, derange monkey and I can't teleport out of here by myself! Damn it all!!"

Kiiro sits up and asks, "You can't teleport by yourself, ra ro da?"

Haiiro jumps from that as she turns around and sees a dirty Ka Kiiro sitting up and is looking at her surroundings. She's in a hole, no doubt about that. She can see the metal bars from the building, the ruble, and the concrete above her and Haiiro. No wonder she's venting. They're both trapped.

Haiiro goes up to her and grabs her straps to pull her up. She yells, "This is all your fault, you stupid monkey!! Now because of you we're both trapped in here!"

Kiiro asks calmly, "Why are you blaming me, ra ro da? You were the one who decided to attack at a construction site and with a crab kirema anima, ra ro da."

Haiiro pushes her to the ground and yells, "Don't test me, monkey! Rather you like it or not, you're the cause of all of this! If it weren't for what you did, I wouldn't have attacked today!" Kiiro looks confused as Haiiro turns around and crosses her arms in front of her chest. "Geeze, you're dense! This is why I hate humans."

But looking at her from behind sparks Kiiro's interest. She stands up and goes up to her, her hands reaching for her long silver hair. "Wow, ra ro da!" she says, examining it. "This is beautiful, ra ro da!" Haiiro turns around and pulls her hair away from Kiiro's hands.

"Don't touch it!" she yells. "Do you go around touching other people's hair?"

"Wait a moment, ra ro da!" Kiiro tells her. Haiiro looks confused as Kiiro goes to her pocket. She presents, "Ta da, ra ro da! A ribbon to make it pretty, ra ro da!" She takes out a long, thick light pink ribbon and even Haiiro has to admit that it looks pretty.

She asks, "A ribbon?"

"Yep, ra ro da! Let me put it on for you, ra ro da!" Kiiro grabs Haiiro's hair again and starts tying the ribbon at the end where the hair band holds the braids together. She ties it into a big bow and exclaims, "Ta da, ra ro da! Now your hair looks even prettier, ra ro da!"

Haiiro lifts her up to look at the ribbon as she asks, "You really think so?"

"Kiiro is never wrong about these things, ra ro da! Now you look super cute, ra ro da!"

Haiiro's lips curl up into a smile as she stares at the ribbon. She wonders, "I do?"

Then Kiiro says, "Wow! Haiiro looks pretty when she's smiling, ra ro da." Haiiro drops the smile and her cheeks are red with surprise. She even looks surprise but mostly started.

"Stop that! Now take it off! I don't want anything from humans!"

"You don't have to act so macho, ra ro da," Kiiro tells her, happily. "This hole is really cramp, ra ro da. We can't fight here, ra ro da."

"Well unfortunately for you," Haiiro says with a smug face and smug tone, "_I_ can easily get out of here through teleportation. You're in trouble here."

"That's not what you said earlier, ra ro da," she reminds."

"Shut up!! Who asked you anyway?!"

Kiiro just smiles and laughs, looking cute as Haiiro looks angry and a bit insulted. "What exactly are you?" she asks.

Kiiro looks a bit confused as she asks, "What do you mean, ra ro da? I'm a human of course, ra ro da."

"Liar!" Haiiro calls her. "Not only were you able to set a monster off in your little boyfriend yesterday, but you also helped him control it. Then you even caught the interest of someone who is supposed to hate you forever. Tell me what the hell are you!!"

There was silence. Haiiro waited for Kiiro's answer and Kiiro's smile is gone clean off her face as she stares back at Haiiro for her question.

Then she simply answers, "I'm just me, ra ro da." Haiiro looks confused for a bit as Kiiro explains, "I've known Kashoka since we were little, ra ro da. We both share the same past and we both share the same pain, ra ro da. We never knew our fathers and will probably never will, ra ro da. But that doesn't matter because knowing who our fathers are doesn't change who we are, ra ro da."

"I don't want to listen to your petty story, monkey!" Haiiro yells. "What good would telling me do? Huh?!"

"It would tell you who I am and why I was able to affect Kashoka so, ra ro da."

"That doesn't explain why you caught his interest."

"Who, ra ro da?"

"No need for you to know! What needs to be known is an explanation for how you caught it. He's not even supposed to take an interest in you anyway! You have dirty blood running through your veins just like that pathetic shark above!"

"Kashoka is not pathetic, ra ro da. He is a good person, ra ro da. And very strong, ra ro da. If it weren't for him when times were rough, I wouldn't be who I am now, ra ro da."

"What?! You telling me that you love him more than a friend?"

"Yes, ra ro da."

Haiiro gasps in surprise as Kiiro was able to so easily say that and with no hesitation at all.

Kiiro explains, "Kashoka knows me better than anyone, ra ro da. We understand each other, ra ro da. And I enjoy being with him, ra ro da. Yesterday when I saw him like that, I was scared, ra ro da. But I wanted to be there for him like he has been there for me, ra ro da. Don't you have someone who shares the same pain you feel, ra ro da? Someone who understands exactly what you're going through, ra ro da?"

Haiiro just growls at her. "Don't try to make me soft, monkey because it won't work!!" Then right before her eyes, Kiiro collapses to her knees. Haiiro watches in surprise as Kiiro has a hand over her chest and is panting. Sweat is pouring down her face as Haiiro is getting confused. Then realization hits.

'_Humans need oxygen to breathe. There's hardly any oxygen in this small tight space and probably with all the screaming and yelling, we used up the oxygen quicker.'_

Haiiro kneels down to Kiiro's level and asks, "Hey, you okay?" Then she gasps at her own words. _'What the hell am I doing?! She is my enemy and I hate her!'_ Haiiro looks at Kiiro's weak face and growls. She sits down and looks away. "If your friends intend to save you, they better do it fast or you won't last much longer," she tells her.

Kiiro looks up at her weakly and tells her, "They will come for us, ra ro da."

Haiiro looks up and answers, "Well they better hurry up, AND what do you mean by 'us'?! I don't need to be saved. I can last in here! Long enough for my companions to get me."

"Companions, ra ro da?" Kiiro asks confused. "Aren't they you're friends?"

"Heck no!!" she answers. "Because one is really starting to gross me out because he has a thing for that witch upstairs and there's another one who is starting to act like him! They're both idiots for liking someone who have the same blood as the women they hate!!"

Kiiro pants a bit before asking, "You hate Kashoka because he has the blood of someone you hate, ra ro da?"

"Of course and right now you're on my list along with that bird up there."

"But you can't kill me, ra ro da."

Haiiro looks at her and asks, "And why not?"

Kiiro answers, "Because we're friends, ra ro da."

Haiiro looks at her confused as she asks, "Friends?"

"Yep, Hai-Hai and Kiiro are best friends now ra ro…da." Then she faints. Haiiro watches as she just lies on the floor, ready to die from lack of oxygen.

Haiiro just stares at her now, shocked and something inside her tells her that she can't let Kiiro die. Not here and not in this place and not after she gave her a ribbon. Haiiro lifts her hair up to look at the pink ribbon and stares. Kiiro even called her pretty and cute when she was the one who got her into this mess. She grips the end of her hair and tosses it over her shoulder.

Haiiro stands up and yells, "It would be boring if you die now!!" She raises her arms over her head and faces her palms up at the ceiling above them. "AAAAAAHHHHH!!!!" she yells, as a big white blast starts to form. It gets bigger and bigger as all at once, she unleashes the energy and it shoots out, blasting through layers of rocks, soil, and metal bars from the construction. The ironic thing is that when Haiiro decides to unleash that energy, the crab kirema anima was right above the hole. The energy ends up destroying the crab kirema anima and causes the other Ka Kas to go flying.

Haiiro lowers her hands and looks up. There she sees earth's blue skies, the white clouds, and some bits of Tokyo buildings. She's panting as she looks down at Kiiro. There should definitely be some oxygen now. She can feel it as she pants. She goes over to her and kneels. She grasps the shoulder and starts shaking it.

"Hey! How long do you intend to sleep?" she asks.

Kiiro shuts her eyes tight before opening them and taking in the fresh air into her lungs. She pushes herself up and looks around. She notices that there is more light in the hole and when she looks up, she sees why. She's saved.

Kiiro looks to the side and sees Haiiro. "Hai-Hai!"

Haiiro narrows her eyes as she tells her, "Don't call me that, monkey."

But Kiiro ends up putting on a big smile as she cheers, "Thank you, Hai-Hai!" Haiiro turns red as Kiiro ends up hugging her. "You're a friend, ra ro da!" Her hug is tight and is really starting to get on Haiiro's nerves.

"Get off me!" she yells, pushing her away and flouting up above the ground. Kiiro looks up as Haiiro tells her, "I only saved you because I want your death to be slow and painful! Even more than this! See ya, monkey!" Then she shoots up into the sky and flies away. Kiiro just watches her go.

"She should have at least got me out of this hole, ra ro da," she mumbles.

"Kiiro!!"

She looks up to the edge and she sees her friends looking down at her. "Hey, get me out of here, ra ro da!!" she yells to them. Kashoka lets out a sigh in relief and slightly smiles at the sight of seeing Kiiro alright.

Midori tells the others, "I'll get her." She jumps off the edge and gracefully glides down to Kiiro. She grabs a hold of Kiiro and stretches her wings out. She flaps them and they help her fly both her and Kiiro out of the hole. She is at least part swan and has wings so might as well use them.

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_Slap_

Haiiro's face faces the direction Kuro hit her towards and she doesn't look the least bit hurt or affected by the hit. Her expression is only guilty and her cheek is turning red from the hit. Kuro however, looks angry.

He scolds, "Don't you ever go off on your own and attack without our knowledge or order! You could have jepordized the mission."

Haiiro looks at him before rubbing her red cheek with the back of her hand as she tells him, "Sorry, Kuro. But I wasn't able to much damage anyway. They beat me."

Aka, who is leaning on the wall, comments, "Those humans get stronger each time we fight them and with each passing day."

Kuro looks at him from the corner of his eyes and he says, "All those humans need is a good hit in a very sensitive spot." Then he turns around and heads for the door.

Haiiro looks up at him completely before she asks, "Where are you going?!"

Kuro stops at the door and looks at Haiiro over his shoulder, saying, "I have business elsewhere." Then he walks through the open door and closes it behind him. Haiiro looks annoyed.

"If he goes off and attacks the humans without our knowledge, I'm going to hit him in a _very_ sensitive spot!" she threatens.

"Haiiro!"

"What?" she asks, looking behind at Aka.

He tells her, "The only reason why I call Kiiro interesting is because she was able to so easly to calm down Kashoka's wild DNA." Haiiro lost her anger as she stares at him. He continues, "She appears to have a big warm heart that can soothe the upset minds of those she cares about. I just think that she is amazing like that. I have no interests like Kuro's interest what so ever."

Haiiro grabs her hair and brings it to her face. She stares at the pink ribbon in her hair before gently smiling. '_I couldn't agree more.'_


	9. A Cat's Surprise

Ch. 9: A Cat's Surprise

"Aoi!" Ryou calls from the other side of Aoi's bedroom door. He knocks as he asks, "Are you there?" There is no answer.

Being curious, Ryou grabs the knob and twists it. He opens the door to peek in and he turns on the lights. The lights brighten up the room but there is no one there. What he does see however is an open window and papers scattered everywhere on the floor – probably from the desk under the open window.

"Didn't that boy come home already?" he wonders out loud. "And why is the window open?"

Thinking that maybe he should help out his son, he walks over the papers and picks them up. As he straightens the picked up pile, he notices something in the writing of the papers. He continues to read them until he comes to a realization of why these papers appear to be so familiar. These papers hold notes full of formulas that look similar to the Mew Mew Project but far more advance than what Ryou came up with years ago. He starts skimming through them and becomes, not only more amazed at his son's work, but also shocked and concern.

"Dad?"

Ryou looks up from the notes to the open door to see Aoi standing there, looking a bit curious. He asks, "What are you doing in my room and looking through your stuff?"

But Ryou changed the subject real fast. He asks, "What is this?!" Ryou walks up to him and shows him the notes. Aoi looks at them and his eyes widen in surprise. He looks up at his father and Ryou waits patiently for an answer. "Well?"

Aoi relaxes his eyes and says while passing right pass Ryou, "They're nothing, dad. Just stupid formulas."

"They don't look like stupid formulas to me," Ryou tells him, turning around to face him.

Aoi closes his window and places the notes on his desk before turning around towards his dad to glare at him. "Why are you getting all upset about them? They're just notes that have nothing to do with you."

"Nothing to do with me?" Ryou asks, starting to get angry.

Just then Mint comes up close to the door as she hears Aoi tell him, "That's right! They are my notes and they have nothing to do with you."

"And where may I ask did you get the inspiration to create those notes?"

"Nowhere."

"Don't give me! Obey your father and answer me now!"

Then Aoi dared, "Well why not tell me why you're getting all upset about just a few stupid notes!!" Ryou stayed silent after that. Ryou has his reasons but he can't tell Aoi about them, even though Aoi already has a pretty good idea why. Aoi tells him, "If you can't answer me, then get out, dad! This is still my room and your presence is no longer needed." Aoi can clearly see that his dad does not want to end this conversation but Aoi has made a good point. Unwilling, Ryou turns around and walks out of the room. Aoi fallows him until Ryou is outside the door and Aoi holds the door knob from the room's side. He tells him, "I also won't need dinner. Good night." Then he slams the door behind his dad. Ryou looks like he's trying to control his anger as Mint looks a bit worried from what she just heard and saw.

"Ryou," she calls as gently as she can. Ryou looks up at the side towards his wife as she asks, "What's going on?"

Ryou calms down his anger as he answers, "It was nothing, my dear. But I hope that I won't be needing to explain it."

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"Uncle Ryou suspects us?" Midori asks in disbelief. The others gasp in surprise while they are gathered around Aoi.

Aoi nods. "I found him in my room and he was looking at the notes I created about the Ka Ka project. However, the way he took them proves to me that him being involved with the Mew Mew project is true and it supports the idea of our moms being the five Mew Mews." The Ka Kas just look at each other in concern of this. What do they do now?

"Everyone!"

All five kids turn towards the kitchen and they see both Ryou and Keiichiro in front of the kitchen doors and both of them look serious. Her father's expression is starting to make Morizaki nervous for what's coming next.

Ryou tells them, "The café won't open today. All of your parents are coming here now and we are going to have a meeting." From the sound of that, all five kids tense up. Their worst fears have just come alive.

_Alarm_

_Alarm_

Ryou and Keiichiro look a bit startled by the sound of that as Aoi looks down at his watch to see that there is an alien attack in Tokyo. The others are just a bit nervous right now. Then in the middle of a song from a radio on the counter by a cashier, the song was interrupted and the report announces with fear and worry in his voice, _**"I interrupt this song with excruciating news! Monsters have appeared and are attacking the Tokyo bullet train tracks as well as the main highway!"**_

All five Ka Kas gasp at the sound of that but Aoi becomes the first to recover from the shock. He turns around towards the others and tells them, "We have to go now!" They look startled because Ryou did just announce the café closing for the day and there being a meeting soon not too long ago.

But Midori puts on a determined to fight face as she nods. "Let's go!" All five of them turn towards the door, dropping rags and brooms to run to the door and run out of the café.

Ryou yells, "Wait!!" But they ignore him.

Aoi turns to both Morizaki and Midori as he yells, "Midori!! Morizaki! We'll go to the highway!" Then he turns to Kiiro and Kashoka as he commands, "You two go to the bullet train tracks!"

"Right!" they all answer, nodding.

Both Ryou and Keiichiro run up to the door to see the kids run off, but then all five of them lift their arms up and revealed their charm bracelets.

"Ka Ka Shark Metamorphosis!!"

"Ka Ka Snake Metamorphosis!!"

"Ka Ka Monkey Metamorphosis!!"

"Ka Ka Swan Metamorphosis!!"

"Ka Ka Tiger Metamorphosis!!"

All five of them, right in front of Ryou and Keiichiro turn into their Ka Ka forms and both guys stand where they are, astonished by their transformation. Shortly after transforming, they all started to move faster to their destinations. Midori sprang into flight as Morizaki and Aoi start running faster because of their animal abilities. Kashoka starts running faster as well as Kiiro jumps up to one tree and starts jumping from one tree to another.

The first to arrive at their destinations are Midori, Aka, and Morizaki. They arrive at the highway and it didn't take long before they started to see kirema animas attacking cars and people running out of the cars and escaping. There are different kinds of kirema animas. There are sinister rats, ugly birds, and rabid looking squirrels. As soon as Midori sees a bird going to attack a woman running away with a baby in her hands, she summons her Sais and charges at the kirema anima.

"Circle Swan Wing!!" she cries, swinging her Sais down.

The attack hit the kirema anima straight on and it was destroyed. It dissolved away as the parasite alien separates from the bird and it flouts away. The bird however flies away as fast as it can from the scene.

Midori lands on a car as Aoi and Morizaki jump up from the road to on top of the cars left behind. They all hear, "Hooray, you all made it!!" Then Midori feels arms wrap around her from behind and she doesn't need someone to tell her who's hugging her. "Well most of you," Kuro notes. "But the only one I want is my little kohakuchou-chan." Then Midori can feel his lips pressed against the back of her neck and her chest feels like it's going to burst.

"Get off me!" she screams, pushing him away. She tries to kick him away but he jumps up into the air and disappears. Midori looks around but can't find him.

"Over here, honey!!"

She turns around and sees Kuro flouting in air while sitting in a cross legged position. He grins at her and yells, "Let's see how powerful you are against this many kirema animas, kohakuchou-chan."

Midori grits her teeth and growls. "When I'm done, I'm going to kick your ass to the stars!!"

"Will you kiss it later?" he asks in a seductive voice. Okay, that was disgusting and that just made Midori more irritated. Kuro just smirks. "Go, kirema animas!!"

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When both Kiiro and Kashoka continue on their way to the bullet train tracks, they see the tracks but so far no kirema animas. So that means that they must be further up. They fallowed the tracks up until they reach the bridge over the waters. However, the tracks have ended, there's a gap between them, and there is a train near the gap that's full of screaming humans and there are fish kirema animas flouting around and some of them are stuck to the train like leeches. They're even eating some of bits of the train.

Kiiro tells Kashoka, "We have to get those kirema animas off before the train becomes cheese, ra ro da!" Kashoka nods.

"Right!"

Both Kashoka and Kiiro then start running down the tracks to the scene. Already they can hear the terrified screams of people as the kirema animas continue to chew through the metal. It won't be long now until the kirema animas get inside the train and probably start eating them. Worst part, Lettuce and Pudding are inside the train. Good thing is that they are in the middle of the crowd so neither Aka or Haiiro saw them yet.

"Hai-Hai!" Kiiro calls, getting close. Aka raises a brow from the nickname as Haiiro tenses up. Pudding didn't hear that because the screaming of frightened humans is really loud.

Haiiro sharply turns around to Kiiro and Kashoka and she screams, "Don't call me that, you stupid monkey! Took you long enough to get here but where's the rest of your team?"

Analyzing who's here, Kashoka answers, "Where Kuro is!"

"And they leave the weakest with us?" Haiiro asks in a mocking tone. "How inconsiderate of your team!"

"At least we're strong enough to stop you, Hai-Hai!" Kiiro yells.

"Stop calling me that!!"

Kiiro doesn't listen. "Even though you're my friend, Hai-Hai! I can't allow you to hurt other people! You will be punished!"

"I like to see you try! Go kirema anima!!"

The kirema animas that are just flouting around charge at both Kashoka and Kiiro. Right before they got hit, they jump up into the air and they both summon their weapons.

"Monkey Rope!"

"Shark Spear!"

Half of the charging kirema animas go to Kiiro and the other half goes to Kashoka. Kiiro grabs both ends of her rope in one hand and starts shaking it so that the rope would twirl at super speed in a circular position. "Heart Monkey Rope!!" As the kirema animas came at her, each one got defeated when they hit Kiiro's spinning rope. Kashoka didn't do any tricks.

He raises the spear above him and yells, "Teardrop Shark Tooth!" before thrusting it down. His attack becomes the shape of a huge shark and it swallows up his half. Those kirema animas return back to their normal fish self before falling back into the water where they belong. Since he's done early, he decides to aim his next attack at the train. But someone sees that.

Aka mumbles, "Attempt failed." Then he summons his axe and throws it at him. Kashoka only had enough time to raise his spear and block it. But the push the axe has is so strong that it pushes Kashoka into the water. When Kiiro was done with her half, she sees Kashoka being pushed into the water as Aka's axe swings back to him like a boomeranged.

"Kashoka!!"

That was something Lettuce and Pudding were able to hear. Lettuce turns to the windows and lets out, "What?!" in surprise.

"Kiiro?" Pudding asks, surprised to hear her daughter's voice. Both of them push the panicking people inside the train aside to get to the windows. Just in time to see Kashoka landing in the water.

Haiiro smirks. "Nice hit, Aka," she tells him.

He just tells her, "Don't flatter me."

Kiiro stares desperately at the water at the same spot where Kashoka landed. She waits anxiously for him to come up but after a few moments, nothing. She begins to run through her memories a bit before realization hit like a falling piano.

'_Kashoka can't swim, ra ro da,'_ she remembers. Again she screams, "Kashoka!! Come up, ra ro da!!" Hearing that coming from the monkey warrior flouting in mid air causes Pudding to wide her eyes in complete shock. Only her daughter speaks like that.

Hearing Kiiro's plead, Haiiro smirks even more before asking, "What? Don't tell me that the shark doesn't know how to swim? That's hilarious!" Then she starts laughing as Lettuce begins to widen her eyes in fear of what she only saw a blur as it hit the water.

_Splash_

Haiiro stops laughing and both her and Aka sharply turn around to see Kashoka jumping out of the water like a fish. He looks aggressive as he raises his spear again. "Teardrop Shark Tooth!!" He swings it down and instead of hitting the aliens, the attack heads for the train. At first the humans started to scream because a huge shark is coming at them. But all the shark does is swallow the train with the kirema animas on top of it. When the shark disappears, so does the kirema animas and the fish return to the water. The humans begin to calm down as both Haiiro and Aka turn to the train.

"Damn it!" Haiiro curses, but as soon as her eyes turn to the windows, her angry expression disappears. Aka looks at the window as well and his eyes are wide when he sees Pudding.

Kashoka lands back in the sea as Kiiro lands back on the tracks. She kneels down to her knees and looks over at the water to see Kashoka swimming towards her at full speed. Kashoka comes up for air and asks Kiiro, "Are you alright?"

Kiiro doesn't answer that question. She asks them. "But how, ra ro da? I thought you can't swim, ra ro da!" Now realizing that, Kashoka looks at his arms where the fins are and he looks down at his knees in the water. He just notices that he's flouting.

He concludes, "Maybe it's because I'm part shark. They can swim, right?" All Kiiro does is nod.

"You damn bitch!!"

Hearing that, both Kiiro and Kashoka turn back to the train to see Haiiro gone but Aka on top of Pudding on the train and he's strangling her. He was the one that cursed and his once cool, expressionless face is gone and replaced with a face full of hate. His grip on Pudding gets tighter and she's choking. Kiiro is shock to see her mom here as Kashoka feels ripples hitting his body. Suddenly fearing the worst, Kashoka goes underwater and looks down to see the same thing, almost. Haiiro has her hands on Lettuce's neck but she's pushing her further and further down to the depths of the water. Kashoka and Kiiro didn't need to think. Kiiro gets up and sprints to get to Aka as Kashoka dives down to Haiiro.

Kiiro grips her rope before commanding, "Get off her, ra ro da!!" She jumps up in the air and Aka looks up at her in surprise of her sudden appearance. "Heart Monkey Rope!!" she swings the rope at him and it hits him dead on in the chest. He lets go of Pudding and goes flying through the air until his back kisses the edge of the train's roof. Kiiro lands by her mother's side. "Mama! Are you alright, ra ro da?" she asks in concern.

Pudding curls up for a bit before coughing and gasping. Her lungs welcome the air with a burning sensation before looking up at Kiiro with weak eyes. Her voice is a little scratchy as she asks, "Kiiro? Are you…a mew mew?"

Oops! Kiiro just called her mama when she wasn't supposed to.

_Splash_

Both Kiiro and Pudding turn to the water and they see a giant shark with Haiiro inside. When the shark disappeared, Haiiro goes flying and Aka is up by then. Haiiro heads for him and he opens his arms to catch her. She lands in his arms as Kashoka comes out with his mom in his arms. He lands next to Kiiro and Pudding and places Lettuce down.

Kashoka asks, "Mother, are you okay?"

Lettuce coughs before answering, "Yes. Thank you, Kashoka."

"Curse that boy to the stars."

All four of them look back at the aliens and they see Aka helping Haiiro stand up. She tries to push him away as she tells him, "Get off. I'm fine." Aka didn't say anything and his expressionless face has returned.

Kiiro looks angry this time as she stands up and faces both of the aliens. She yells, "Hai-Hai!! Why did you try to kill our mamas, ra ro da?! This fight has nothing to do with them, ra ro da!"

Haiiro yells, "Don't you ever yell such nonsense to my face!!" Her voice full of venom when she snaps at Kiiro. "This whole mess is their fault!!" All four humans or Ka Kas look surprise and confused by that.

Kiiro asks, "What do you mean, ra ro da?"

Haiiro appears to be so angry that she doesn't give a damn as she answers, "It's because of those witches that our lives are ruined! It's because of them that our dads can never forget them!!"

Now that was really confusing. But to Lettuce and Pudding, that was really shocking.

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_Attack_

_Dodge_

_Attack_

_Dodge_

_Attack_

_Dodge_

That was mostly what Midori's and Kuro's fight was. While Kashoka and Kiiro are busy at the bullet train tracks, Aoi, Morizaki, and Midori have their hands full with Kuro and his kirema animas. Midori was taking care of the bird kirema animas pretty fast as Aoi was fighting the rats and Morizaki was fighting the squirrels. Midori finished her share faster than Kuro expected. He called it sweet, but Midori told him that she just wanted to hurry up and fight him by herself. She apparently still has personal business she has to take care of. Aoi and Morizaki decide not to get involved in that, for who knows what might happen if they tried. Kuro wouldn't want it any other way. So while Aoi and Morizaki are fighting the remaining kirema animas, Midori is fighting Kuro.

Midori tries to stab Kuro one more time but he blocks both of her Sais with his scythe. Now, it's a battle of strength. They stood there, pushing against the other to see who is the strongest. However, it looks evenly matched. Then Kuro says, "You want to know what I don't get? I don't get why you don't just give up and go out with me. I can take you away from this painful world known as Earth."

"I will never go with you, Kuro!" she tells him. "Can't you just progress that through your thick skull?!"

"Tell me why, Midori. I'm anxious to know why not."

He doesn't sound disappointed or upset. He sounds enthusiastic and a bit seductive like a guy trying to pick up a stubborn girl.

She answers, "Because I can never leave the people I love! Besides, Kuro I like someone else." She says that to hopefully get him discouraged but apparently doesn't work.

"Oh?" He looks over his shoulder and she fallows his gaze cautiously. He's look at Aoi as he's dodging another kirema anima attack before defeating it. Kuro looks at her and says, "I think I know who it is. Maybe when I'm done with you, I'll go after him. Let's see how long he'll last before his very last breath."

Midori got angry as she warns, "You touch him and I will personally kick your ass to the next solar system!"

Kuro smiles and asks her, "Then it's a date then?"

Midori is a bit red as she tells him, "Get your head out of the gutter, you pervert!!"

"K-Kisshu?"

Both Kuro and Midori didn't expect to hear that. They're both confused and startled to hear that as they look over Midori's shoulder to see not only her mom, but also Zakuro and Mint. Ryou did say that he is having a meeting with the parents as an audience so it's probably not a big surprise that they were in the traffic and came out of their car to come and see why they're held back, especially with seeing the alien and kirema anima attacks. Like how Lettuce and Pudding were in the bullet train.

Midori however is surprised to see her mother. "M-Mom?!" Kuro isn't. He's speechless shock. Ichigo is still staring at him in surprise and he looks at her, analyzing her. Moments passed and Kuro lost it.

Midori suddenly felt like she was pushing against nothing as she falls to the ground. Kuro teleported away and Midori instantly looks up at her mom to see Kuro in the air above Ichigo with his scythe over his head. He looks angry and a bit insane as he yells, "ICHIGO!!!"

Hearing him, both Aoi and Morizaki turn around and they see Kuro thrusting the scythe down to cut Ichigo in half along with their moms. Mint and Zakuro grab Ichigo and pull or push her out of the way. The scythe hit the ground and created a crack longer and bigger than the ones Aka makes with his axe. That was a shocker and relief. But things got scary again when Kuro pulls his scythe out of the ground and looks towards Ichigo's direction. She even feels a bit fear coming from this alien boy. But both Aoi and Morizaki are unable to help because the kirema animas distract them.

Midori on the other hand pushes herself up and rushes over to him. Kuro got ready to charge at Ichigo but Midori wraps her arms around his waist. Ichigo gasps in surprise as a memory appears in her mind. Even the lines are the same as her memory; just different names.

"Stop it, Kuro!" Midori screams, almost pleading.

But Kuro tries to push her off, yelling, "Get off!!"

"Stop it! Please!!"

"Don't get in my way!!" he yells, pushing her back. She falls to the ground on her butt as she looks up to see Kuro raising his scythe but this time, it's glowing blue. Kuro screams, "Now to finish it…Die, whore!!" He thrusts the scythe down, sending the attack at the moms. Midori starts to panic and she doesn't even care to realize what happens next.

Midori pushes herself up and runs. But she ends up disappearing and then reappearing in front of her mom and the others in a protective way. Kuro gasps in surprise of seeing her there and the attack is going right at her. He calls, "Midori!!"

But she raises her Sais and cries, "Circle Swan Wing!!" She sends her attack at Kuro's and somehow, it seems more…powerful. Because it blasts right through Kuro's attack, it ends up hitting him. He gets hit and drops his weapon as he goes flying straight into a building. He crashes into it and creates a hole in it. Everyone but Midori gasps in surprise of seeing that. Midori just looks angry. Kuro tries to sit up from the ruble, his arms lifting himself up from the pile of rocks. He looks beaten up.

Ichigo looks at Midori and mumbles out in surprise, "Midori?! You're a…" She couldn't finish it. How could she when she actually hopes that it's not true. Midori doesn't pay her any mind because she has other things on her mind.

Her eyes are practically glowing with rage and only Kuro sees that. She screams, "Kuro, don't you ever try to lay a hand on my mom again!!" That set him off.

Kuro yells, "Why should I when most of this mess if her fault?!! It's her fault that my father is dead!!" Midori's eyes stopped glowing. They returned back to normal and she appears confused. Both her and the other two Ka Kas are confused as the grownups are shocked. There was silence for a moment before Ichigo spoke.

She gets up and asks, "Was your father..Kisshu?"

Midori turns around to face her mom in deep confusion. This is the first time she ever heard that name before and yet it feels so…familiar.

"At least you remember his name, you selfish bitch!"

Midori looks back at Kuro, surprised by his sharp tongue as he stands up, his arm over his shoulder. Now his eyes are glowing blue and they're as skinny as a cat's on a sunny day. He tells her, "I wish you two never met or none of this would have happened. It's your fault that he is the way he is now."

Okay, now that is a tad bit confusing. Didn't he just say that his father is dead?

"Kuro!" Midori calls. He looks at her, his eyes relaxed and she looks at him with a face mixed with confusion and concern. He's surprise. She asks, "What do you mean?" He stares at her a moment longer before looking away in shame.

Kuro lifts up a hand and looks down at his open palm. Then something appears, almost like a morphed pile of bubbles formed under his skin and grow as it changes color; red. When it was hand size, he grasps it and all of the kirema animas start screaming. Everyone but Kuro looks at the kirema animas as he continues to squeeze the heart, until it explodes in his hand. Right then, the kirema animas scream one last time before collapsing on the ground, the cries fading into silence. Aoi and Morizaki stare at the kirema animas in shock as Midori looks back at Kuro. He looks at her as well and he doesn't look like the alien Midori knows. Right now he looks so sad and so….lonely.

He tries to smile but even the smile appears lonely, not carefree or seductive that Midori grew to know. "Midori," he calls, catching everyone else's attention. "I'll see you later, kay?" Then the air around him begins to ripple and Midori feels a hint of panic in her guts.

She calls, "Kuro!!" But he's already long gone.


	10. A Swan’s Shocking Discover

Ch. 10: A Swan's Shocking Discover

There was silence between the formal Mew Mew team and the Ka Ka team. The five kids were all sitting down at a table in silence as the Mew Mew team looked like they were having a silent discussion with their eyes. The silence was killing them all but the kids dare not speak because they all know that they are in deep trouble. That and there was something else.

After both Aka and Haiiro accused both Lettuce and Pudding as the women who destroyed their lives, they looked like they were ready to go on a killing spree. They started to destroy everything. Pieces of the train and the bullet train tracks. Both Kiiro and Kashoka knew that they had to stop them before everything was destroyed so what they both did was counter attack each of them; Kashoka at Haiiro and Kiiro at Aka. The attacked caused both aliens to crash into the water and both Kiiro and Kashoka waited for them to come back up. All the while, both of their mothers were watching them. When both Haiiro and Aka didn't come up, Kiiro got worried for her friend so Kashoka went down to go and see if they are alright. Being part shark, he's pretty fast so hopefully he can get to them in time. Kiiro explained that to him and he decided to try it since there is nothing else they can really do. Apparently, she was right. Kiiro waited and waited for him to come up. After a few minutes past five minutes, Kashoka came out and reported that he couldn't find them anywhere. There was a good chance that they probably left or they…Kiiro refused to believe the last part because she knows that both of them are pretty strong to not be finished so easily. Kashoka apologized for his thinking and Kiiro forgave him. Their mothers called for them and Pudding asked on what exactly was going on. Both Kiiro and Kashoka thought it was time to tell them the truth; all of it.

Then here they were. In the café, sitting at a table, not speaking a word, and hoping that their parents won't be too mad at them. But besides that now their parents know about their secret mission, Midori had something else that was on her mind; like when Kuro first went crazy and tried to kill her mom and then destroying the kirema animas that he created. His face when he told Midori that he'll see her later was burned into her memory and she couldn't get that face out of her head. It was annoying and it was greatly upsetting her.

"Kids," Ryou calls, breaking the silence. They all look up, grateful to the sound and they look desperate. Ryou however, looks upset. He has his arms crossed in front of his chest as he asks, "Tell us exactly what you five have been doing."

All five of them look at each other in caution and fear of that. It was no use hiding it but the looks on some of their parents' faces were not helping; Ichigo and Ryou. Aoi decided to answer first. "When I was cleaning the basement, I found some old files; files of the Mew Mew project, how it was created, what the formulas were, and how to use it. It also contained files on who the enemy was and what happened in the end. So I read them like a new interest and thought of new formulas. At the time, that was all it was; a new past time. But then when that woman came and she was an alien and pleading for help, I took action. I took blood from these four and I created their formulas. We all took it and we have been protecting earth from alien attacks ever since."

Ryou did not look happy at all as Ichigo was shocked to hear that. The other parents were just astounded and concern because their kids have been in danger for the longest time and didn't even knew it. Ryou let out a frustrated sigh and curses under his breath about how he should have destroyed those files long ago. Then Aoi spoke again.

"Father! Listen! I was the one who created those formulas, I got my nose into a business I shouldn't have stuck it in, and I was the one who turned my friends into what normal people would call freaks." The four kids were shocked to hear that. He was actually trying to put the blame all on him. Maybe it was honorable but they were worried on what's going to happen to him if he takes the blame.

Ryou told him, "Stop trying to be so heroic when you're not." Aoi is surprise to hear that as are the rest of them. Ryou looks at Keiichiro and he looks down, depress. Morizaki was wondering about that as Ryou nodded. He turns back at them and announces, "As of today, Café Mew Mew is closed, for good." All of the kids could not believe what he just said. Midori stepped in immediately.

"What?!" she asks, suddenly sitting up.

Ichigo tells her in a stern and strong voice, "Midori! Sit down!"

Midori got angry. "I will not, mom! We have done nothing wrong and you guys are just going to close the café?!"

Keiichiro tired to reason with her, saying, "Midori-san, please try to understand. We are doing this for your own safety."

"Our own safety?" she asks, appalled. "In case some of you have forgotten, we all just saved your asses from being alien trash!"

Ichigo stands up and tells her, "Watch your language, young lady!"

"This is punishment, isn't it?! Punishment for just keeping this one secret from you guys. Just one little secret!"

"It's not little, Midori if it includes you all risking your lives every day by fighting aliens behind our backs!"

"So you are punishing us!"

Kashoka stands up and tells Midori, "Please, Midori-san. Calm down."

"No!" she yells, snapping at him. He jumps from her yell and she yells, "I've had it! They're keeping secrets from us as well and it's more than one! They shouldn't lecture us or even punish us for keeping one thing from them!" Her voice calmed down a bit but the feeling of anger was still there. "Seeing Kuro's actions and hearing his words prove to me once and for all that you know something. Now answer me this! Are you all the Mew Mews from twenty years ago?" Silence filled the café once again.

Their parents were giving each other concern looks. The other four are looking at Midori in utter surprise, especially when she mentioned Kuro. Ichigo is the only one who wasn't looking at everyone else. She was staring at her daughter with wide eyes and a closed mouth while her daughter's eyes tell her that she's not going to back down. Finally, Ichigo let out a sigh of defeat as she rubs her head with the back of her hand. She asks, "I'll tell you everything if you answer me this." Midori waited for the question. "Do you have feelings at all for that alien you spoke of?"

Midori looked nearly disgusted by that question. "Are you kidding me? Hell no!"

Ichigo didn't look like she approved of her daughter's language but she let it go. She answers, "Twenty years ago when I was thirteen, I became a Mew Mew; Mew Ichigo I was once known as." The kids were surprise as Midori's expression became the same one her mother had before she calmed down.

Ryou added, "My father was working on the Mew Project after finding remains of buildings that were not human made; alien made. They used to live on earth about four million years ago but they had to leave when the weather conditions were ready to lead them to extinction. But the weather on their planet was a lot worst and they regretted leaving. Millions of years later, they sent three aliens to earth to destroy the humans and to claim back earth to save their dying race. I completed the Mew Project years later after my parents died and I involved five girls in it so that they could become earth's superheroes and save humanity."

"At the time, I was dating someone," Ichigo added. "I was deeply in love with him as well and when I became a Mew Mew, it was hard to have a relationship but we managed. During our battles, little by little we started to understand the aliens and saw the good in their hearts. At least that was what I believed." She said that with dangerous narrow eyes and a threatening voice. That confused the five but they let her continue. "My boyfriend became the body of the alien's leaders and was going to destroy earth when he should have only destroyed the humans and fix earth like the aliens believed. I fought my hardest to bring the man I loved back and it worked after many difficulties. The aliens soon left but not before taking some Mew Aqua to heal their planet. Mew Aqua is a very powerful substance that the aliens created millions of years ago and a small amount of it was able to clean a whole contaminated ocean. The aliens took the last remains of it and used it to heal their planet. That was the last time we saw them until four years later."

Before she was going to go on, Midori couldn't help but ask, "Was this old boyfriend of yours…my father?"

Ichigo shook her head. "I wish but Aoyama-kun is not your father; one of three aliens is." Midori lost all anger and shock completely replaced it. Her friends were shocked too. Midori is half human, half alien? Ichigo finishes, "They came back four years later for a visit and we were having a graduation party at the time because I finally got into a college that I study my fingers off to get into. Aoyama-kun was planning on going to same college so that we could be together after he moved to the United States, but that alien ruined my life by making me pregnant and ruining my chance of collage and a future with the one person I ever loved. It was also because of him that I nearly got disowned by my own parents. I tried so hard to make sure that you don't end up like him but every time I look over my shoulder, I see you acting like him and it made me sick." First it was shock, but now Midori couldn't help but feel like a knife just stabbed her straight into the heart and twisted it.

Midori curled her lips up slightly and her eyes are burning. She looks down at the ground and asks, "So that's it, then? You never really wanted me in the first place." Ichigo was shocked to hear that as she looks up at Midori. Midori already has tears running down her face and her weak smile is still there.

Ichigo tried to tell her, "Midori, listen! That's not true!"

"Yes it is!" she screams. Midori looks up at her and yells, "You always, always told me not to do this or that because it reminded you of my father! Well you know what? You should have gotten a damn abortion or never slept with him at all!"

"Midori, you got it all wrong! I don't-"

"SHUT UP!! You hate me, is that right? I ruined your life and you hate me for it! Well you know what? I hate you too! You hear me, mom? I hate you! I hate you, I hate you, I hate you, I hate you!! Just who the hell asked you to have me?!"

There was silence for the longest time and Midori's eyes represent every bit of hatred she just said. Ichigo's eyes were wide with complete disbelief and she was speechless. Seeing her shocked face made Midori look down at the ground and more tears started to fall from her eyes. Then she started running, right past her mom and towards the door. Ryou tried to grab her and he says, "Midori! Stop this and listen!" But then something very surprising happened. Midori's eyes became cat like and then a blue blast appears from between Ryou and her. She ends up blasting him away and he goes crashing into the wall.

"Ryou!"

"Father!"

Midori looks at what she has done in terror and then down at her hands. She looks at how the grownups are surrounding Ryou, asking him if he's okay; especially Mint and Aoi. Then Midori mumbles, "I'm a freak." They all looked up at her and more tears are falling down as a crocked and unhappy smile is on her face. "I'm a freak…I'm a freak…and you all hate me." Then she ran out the door again.

"Midori!!"

They called and called but she kept running. She kept running from the open fields of the park to the sea of trees. She ran over bushes, avoided branches, and tried to not crash into any trees. But all the more, her eyes were leaking and they were blurring her vision. After running a good distance into the forest, she slowed down a bit because if she wasn't careful, she could run into a tree or into an unexpected slop. Then she started crying as hard as she could where she stood.

Her voice was screaming into the night and her tears were huge like rain when they came falling down. Negativity filled her body and her heart ached. It hurts more than anything she has ever felt before. Not being wanted or being hated at is the worst thing that could happen to a soul but she got both of them and now she just feels like dying. She wants to die. To stop the pain and die. Maybe everything would be easier than. No more Midori to worry about and they would all be happy.

"Midori!"

Her head snapped up and she turned around, they're looking for her. For what? What reason are they looking for? To hurt her because she's the enemy or to hurt her because she hurt Ryou? What a shame too. She was just starting to like Aoi and now she just hurt his father. He'll never like her now. Not like it matters. Even if she didn't attack his father, he wouldn't like her because she's half of the enemy that they're suppose to be fighting; a runt.

'_I have to get out of here!'_ she thinks in her head. But when she suddenly turned around and tried to run, she tripped. _'Ow!'_ she thinks, trying to get up. _'How the heck did the floor get so close?'_ She looks down and then gasps in surprise. Instead of seeing hands on the ground lifting her up, she sees black wings. Then she starts freaking out.

Midori starts looking around her body and she sees a black winged body, tail feathers, swan feet, a long neck, and a red beak. She has just turned into a black swan. Then she starts screaming, "This cannot be happening!! What the heck is going on? How did I turn into a bird and a swan no less?!! Oh no, oh no, oh no, oh no!!" What she didn't realize was that she was running around in circles and she was honking or making whatever kind of noise that swans are supposed to make. To her, she's speaking normally but to humans, she speaking swan.

"Midori?!"

She jumps in surprise and says, "Oh no! They're closer!" Then a hand comes out of the bushes and grabs her; her body and her beak. She gets pulled into the bushes and she tries to struggle. Someone's got her. In her mind, she's thinking, _'Someone's got me! I'm going to be a prize! Come on, fight!'_

Then the hand that grabbed her beak started to squeeze. That hurt and Midori winced at that. Then she hears, "Will you stop fidgeting for a moment?!" That was so unexpected to hear. She looks up at her capturer and it's Kuro!

'_What the hell is he doing here?!'_ she wonders, starting to freak out a bit but not so much like before. She remains absolutely still because now she's in the hands of an alien and one she doesn't like so much. However, her mind is doing all of the freaking out. _'Is he here to look for another animal to use as a kirema anima? And he just captured me?! Oh no!!'_

Then both of them hear, "Did you find her?!" That sounds like Morizaki.

Then they hear Aoi answer, "No. Damn!"

"Calm down, Aoi."

"If I didn't start this stupid thing, none of this would have happened."

_Slap_

To Midori, that was a bit unexpected to hear. Morizaki ended up yelling, "How about instead of mopping around about how you shouldn't have started the Ka Ka project, how about we look for her? So what are you going to do? Blame yourself for something you didn't expect to go out of hand or to help all of us look for Midori?!"

There was silence but because Midori was so close to Kuro, she heard him let out a quiet gasp. She didn't expect to hear that either.

Then Aoi answers, "Look for her, that is my decision."

They heard Morizaki let out a sigh of relief and she tells him, "Good choice." She must be smiling right now.

"Is she here?!" they hear a different voice ask, but they both recognize that voice; Ichigo.

Midori was surprise but it soon went away when she felt the hand that grabbed her beak tighten and this time, it was tighter than before. She looks up at Kuro and he looks really dangerous and angry. She can still remember his words about why he hates her mother so much.

Aoi answers, "She's not here, either!"

"Well let's look somewhere else!" Morizaki suggests. "She couldn't have gotten too far!" Both Aoi and Ichigo must have agreed because then both Midori and Kuro heard rushing footsteps going away from them. After a while, Kuro released Midori all together.

"That was a close one," he says, looking out of the bushes and looking to see if there are any humans anywhere. Meanwhile, Midori has her wings on her beak and is moaning in pain. It hurts so bad like he nearly broke it off. "Well if kohakuchou-chan left, then I'm proud of her! She finally took my advice." Midori is surprise to hear that as she looks up at him. He looks down at her and he's smiling. He tells the swan, "I just hope now that she's okay." If Midori was a human, she would be blushing right now but it's hard to see beneath the black feathers.

Then Kuro notices that both of her wings are on her beak. He asks her, "Did I squeeze too hard?"

Midori only answered, "You damn right you squeezed too hard!" She was even glaring at him but she looks away and tries to rub it some more. She fingers, _'I guess it's okay to say that. After all, he can't hear me.'_

"Sorry about that but you know, you shouldn't swear. You look too young to swear and I had never heard an animal swear before." Okay, that was just downright surprising.

Midori jumps and asks, "WHAT?!! You can hear me?!"

He answers, "You bet. Call it an extra gift. I can hear all of the voices of the animals on earth that humans or even my comrades can't hear. The only reason why I was squeezing so hard was because that woman that was here a few minutes ago, I hate her and I seriously want to kill her. So I just got a bit angry and you were the closest thing that I could squeeze in frustration." She would have comment about that but right now, she's too shocked about the fact that he heard her. But at least he confesses that he can talk to animals so she doesn't need to ask if she's speaking human. "You know, I know how to make that beak better."

Midori looks at Kuro in wonder but then he picks her up and holds her close. She starts panicking but that was all in the mind because she's so close to his chest. She can actually hear his heartbeat. _'So nice…So comforting.'_ Then she couldn't help it. She closes her eyes and relaxes in the warmth and the sound of his heart beat.

"We here."

Midori opens her eyes and the scenery changed. Instead of behind a bush, she's at this open area. Her eyes are wide as he pulls her back and stares at her. He tells her, "You know, you're kind of cute when you're dead surprise like that. Did I wake you up from dream land?"

She yells, "Shut up, you jerk!!"

He tells her again, "Sorry, sorry." He puts her down gently. "Hold on for a moment." He looks around the ground for something and he found it. He flies over towards the found object and picks up two stones. He looks at the size like he's debating and then walks over to a river. There was a river? Midori didn't pay attention to the scenery yet. She was too busy watching Kuro in curiosity. He puts the two stones in the river and starts washing them. After deciding that it was washed enough, he puts it on a big rock that was half way in the river. Then he flies over to a field of plants. He looks over them and picks out different herbs. He goes back to the river and starts washing them, leaves and all. Then for some herbs, he picks the leaves off and throws them in the river or he saves some of the leaves. He got his two stones and places the roots and leaves on one of the stones and starts smashing it. After a bit, he turns towards Midori and waves at her to come closer. She does. He puts one of the stones down and starts using his fingers to pick up some of the herb paste. He starts rubbing it on her beak and she's feeling hot in the head. He tells her, "I know that this probably smells bad but it really works." She still red but she can feel it working.

"Kuro-chan!!"

A small little sparrow flies over and lands on Kuro's shoulder. He stops with the applying medicine and looks on his shoulder to see the bird. He greets, "Hey there, Tori-chan!"

"Kuro-chan!"

Midori looks behind the alien and starts seeing all of these animals coming to him like he's there mother or something. It actually made Midori very surprise to see that. The animals that started to surround are birds, squirrels, and rats. Interesting animal care choices and they all looked very happy to see Kuro.

"Hi, hi everyone," he greets. "Hold on one second." He flies over to where he was before and picks up a sack. Midori was curious about that. Was that always there or did she not see it? Kuro was rummaging inside for a bit before he started talking out loaves of bread. He shows them some of it and they cheered.

"Food!!"

Kuro laughs at their cute attitude as the animals started running towards him and he was breaking up the bread into pieces. He tossed them on the ground and the animals happily started eating them. After the bread, he went back into the sack and took out a rice cooker. He took out the bowl and then dumped the rice on the ground. The animals started devouring that too. He went back into the sack and took out a jar of seeds. He started tossing them to the animals and they started eating that too. All the while, Midori was staring at how different Kuro is acting compared to how he always acted in front of her.

Kuro asks the animals, "Like it?"

They all answered, "Yum!!"

"That's good. They all were taken fresh from the humans."

Midori frowns after hearing that. She should have figured that he's still bitter towards humans.

"Hakuchou-chan!" Midori looks up at Kuro in surprise and he picks up a loaf of bread that the animals didn't touch. Hearing him call for a different animal, most of the animals looked up and they see Midori. Kuro tells her, "Come over here! There's plenty for everyone!" She's surprise by that.

One of the squirrels asks, "Who's that?"

Kuro turns to him and answers, "A swan I just met when I was coming here. I heard her yelling and I heard humans coming. One thing I do know is that if I didn't grab her when I did and hid her, they probably would have run her over. I also accidently nearly broke her beak off."

Some of the female animals scold, "Kuro-chan! You should be more careful when handling a female! How the heck are you going to win any hearts if you are rough with us females?"

Kuro looks to the side, nervously and answers, "Well I guess I need to change that. One girl I like doesn't like me yet and I guess it's because I keep trying to kill her."

"Kuro-chan!!!"

"Sorry, sorry!" He turns his attention back to Midori and asks, "You hungry or not?"

She shakes her head and tells him, "I'm not hungry." Then her stomach betrayed her.

_Grrrrrowl_

Then Kuro burst out laughing as Midori is just plain right embarrassed. Kuro took a while before he says, "It seems that your stomach doesn't agrees, hakuchou-chan." She looks up at him, ready to tell him off but the moment she saw his smiling face and him looking so happy, she dare not say anything. That was a real smile and she had never seen one coming from him before. It was…beautiful. Soon he calmed down his laughs and told her, "Now no excuses! Come over here and I'll breaks the bread since your beak hurts."

She tells him, "Oh, o-okay." She walks towards him and he smiles again.

"That's a good girl." He starts breaking off a few pieces and then tossing them to the ground. When she was close, she starts eating them off the ground. The bread is good. "See, it's not so bad, right? Now eat up!"

Midori looks up at Kuro's smiling face and suddenly it felt like all of her worries, her dirtied feelings just disappeared into nothing like she just wasted her tears for no good reason. She blushes and tells him, "Thank you." Then she starts eating the rest of the bread crumbs as the other animals went back to eating. Kuro continues to break the bed and tosses them onto the ground like bread rain.

When he completely crumbles the bread to pieces, he just watches her eat the rest of the bread. She can tell that he's staring because he didn't say anything and he didn't move. For once, she didn't seem to mind it. She didn't even mind it when he did move only to pet her black feathers.

He tells her, "You're feathers are really soft and very pretty, hakuchou-chan." Now she is defiantly blushing and now her heart is starting to react too.

Kuro looks up at the sky and pulls his hand back. Midori looks up as he says, "Sorry guys, but I have to go!"

The animals, with food all gone, look up and say, "Ahhhh!! But why, Kuro-chan?!"

He tells them, "Sorry but it's late and I snuck out again. But don't worry! I'll be back tomorrow with food in the afternoon, I promise! Besides, I need to put more ointment on hakuchou-chan's beak."

One of the squirrels have hearts flying all over the place as she breathes out, "You're so nice, Kuro-chan! It's just like the time when you helped me with my broken foot."

"Kinezumi-chan," he calls her, a bit embarrassed. "You're embarrassing me."

One of rats says, "But it's true! You're very nice and generous unlike the humans! They're so rude! They ignore us!"

In both Midori's and Kuro's minds, they think, _'They can't hear you.'_

"Well it's time I have to go," Kuro tells them. He turns to Midori and tells her, personally, "I'll see you tomorrow, kay? Bye-bye!" Then he teleports away and Midori watches him go.

Some of the animals says, "Good night, hakuchou-san! Time to turn in! See you tomorrow!" Before she could say anything, they start running off back into the bushes or back up the trees. Now it's just Midori at the area and she takes that time to look around.

The area is actually something she has never seen before. It's an open area that's about thirty or thirty-five feet big all around. The grass look so green and healthy and it's full of plants like herbs or flowers. The open area is almost like the other half of a hill. Kuro, the other animals, and her were on the top and the animals went down the hill to get back to their homes. At the bottome of the hill, there is a river and a lake and the water looks so clean and clear. The water was the only thing that amazed Midori because she never saw anything like this before. She walks down the hill and towards the edge of the lake to stare down at the water. It's so clear like crystal and it looks so clean. She sits down on the edge and wonders, _'If I'm stuck as a swan, how the heck do I sleep?'_


	11. Alien and Ka Ka

Ch. 11: Alien and Ka Ka

"Okay, thank you." After that, Ryou hangs up the phone and lets out a sigh.

Ichigo stands up and asks, "Did they find her?!"

Ryou turns to her sadly and answers, "The police say that there is still no sigh of her, like she disappeared."

It's been almost a week now and Midori is still missing. Well, she's still a swan but the others don't know that. They looked everywhere for her. Any place that they are sure she would go to for comfort or any places that most runaways would run to, she wasn't there. They filed a missing person's report to the police when they couldn't find her and now it sounds like that they can't find her either. Everyone is at the café when they waited for report from the police of Midori's location.

Kashoka gets a bit worried as he asks, "You don't think that maybe Midori was capture, was she?"

Instantly, Kiiro says, "Midori onee-chan is a strong girl, ra ro da! She would fight to the death before she gets captured by them, ra ro da!"

"But did you not see her expression when she left?" Ichigo asks, mumbling. Everyone looks at her as she looks like she's ready to cry. "For all we know, she could have gone with them and we'll probably never see her again. This is my fault. Why did I say those things to her? Why…?" Then she cracks down crying.

Immediately, her friends go to her side and try to comfort her. Lettuce rubs her back as she tells her, "No matter what she told you, Midori loves you. She would never leave you behind." Ichigo leans against her shoulder and Lettuce holds her like a child.

Ryou lets out a sigh and confesses, "I went too far so I take most of the blame for what happened. I guess you can say that I deserved that hit. But instead of wasting my time regretting my words, I spend my time looking for her. I will find her, Ichigo. I promise you that." Ichigo looks up at him from his words and nods.

"But," Morizaki mumbles, "there have been a few fights since she disappeared and she hasn't come to help." That made everyone worried again. What if Midori did go to the aliens and joined their side because she's confused about who she can trust and which side she should really be on? That thought causes Aoi to grip his hands into tight balls again.

"I'm going to look for her again," he announces, before jumping out of his seat and running to the door.

"Aoi-kun!" Morizaki calls, getting up as well.

"Wait a minute, ra ro da!" Kiiro calls. Then both her and Kashoka fallow them. The parents didn't stop them as all four of them go running out to try and find Midori again.

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"You're here to destroy the humans?" Midori asks, in slight bit of surprise.

Midori is still at the lake. She hasn't left since Kuro took her there. She found out that she can sleep on the water since she is after all a swan. She finds it very relaxing as Kuro has been coming to see her and the other animals every day with food. He comes mostly to apply the medicine on her beak before feeding all of them. Midori was surprised by how effective the medicine he makes has on her beak. In the middle of the week, her beak didn't ach anymore. It felt as good as new, but yet again how was she supposed to know since she jus recently entered the life of a swan. After feeding them, Kuro has to go to work with trying to attack the humans and the Ka Kas. What Midori thought was weird was that some of the animals ask if they can be turned into kirema animas. Most of the time, Kuro says no because he doesn't want his friends to get hurt but when they have a perfectly good reason, like 'I want revenge for what they did to my family' or what they did to their homes, then Kuro takes them and leaves with them. In hours, he would come back with a very tired animal and apologizes. The animals that he took never hold anything against him. During her stay, Midori discovers many fascinating things. She sees that Kuro really cares for these animals, he tries to take care of them as best as he can during his busy schedule, and he's actually really kind unlike the Kuro that Midori thought she knew. The more he comes, the more comfortable she becomes with his company and the more she enjoys it. For the past few days, Kuro's been staying longer to either play with the animals or to just talk with Midori. He didn't hold anything back, like now. He's telling her about his reasons for being here while the animals are playing ball that Kuro brought for them to play with.

Kuro nods at her question. "Yep! Call it punishment for their cruelty to the animals. The humans cut down their homes, shorten their food, use them as test subjects for their wacky science experiments, and leave the young ones all alone after killing their parents. There's that and because of my father. Haiiro is here as another form of fun and Aka just wants to tick his father off. For all I know, it's probably working and soon his dad will be coming here at light speed and then try to kill him. His father, I say, has a bad temper."

Midori asks, "What about yours? What's wrong with your father?"

Kuro didn't answer right away. That look in his face that Midori remembers from before comes back; lonely and sad. It went away when Kuro answers, "Let's just say that my father is not the same as how my uncles described him to be before my mother died."

"Your mother…is dead?" Midori asks, her voice shock and full of pity.

Kuro nods. "Yeah," he answers.

Midori's face looks even more pitied as she tells him, "Kuro, I'm sorry."

He tries to smile as he tells her, "Don't be. I don't really remember her since she died giving birth to me. However, I was told that she was a good, kind, gentle woman" His smile looks just like the one Midori remembers seeing at their last battle.

She couldn't help but think, _'We really are similar. He never really knew his mom and I never really knew my father. We only have a small fact about them.'_

Kuro looks back at the animals as he explains, "My mother was someone who understood my father and his feelings. They went way back and were really close before they got married so she knew him like the back of her hand. She loved him no matter what. Sometimes I think that if they were of different species, it wouldn't have stopped her from loving him and I think." He pauses for a bit and that catches Midori's attention. She waits for his answer as Kuro begins to bring back his true happy smile at the thought. "And I think that's how I feel towards Midori." She turned beet red right after he said that. He turns to look at her and confesses, "Midori is the most interesting and fascinating person I know. Not to forget that she's really cute. I actually really care for her. I don't know why but every time I see her, I feel like my duties and orders don't matter anymore and I just want to spend as much time as I can with her before I have to go back to work. I would just be content to at least get close enough to touch her."

Midori's heart is pounding really hard now. It's like he's making a love confession to her when he doesn't even realize it's her. Trying to not act like Midori, she asks, "What if she doesn't like you like how you like her?"

He didn't seemed fazed by her question. He answers, "I won't give up on her. I can't help but like her more and more every time I see her beautiful face or hear her musical voice." That nearly makes Midori's head explode. She feels like her heart is pounding like giant Taiko drums now with each beat pulsing through her body.

Kuro looks back at the animals before saying, "I was thinking that maybe I won't come tomorrow." Midori looks at him, now shocked as he explains, "She hasn't shown up for almost a week and I really miss her. I wonder if she's safe, has enough to eat, or fine. Those worries drive me up the wall when I don't have the answer. So I'm going to look for her. I know that it might take me a while since the Ka Kas haven't found her but I don't know if I can spend another day without seeing her. I will find her. Count on that!" While he looks proud and determined, Midori looks sad and guilty.

'_He won't find me,'_ she thinks. _'So long as I stay as a swan, he will never find me and that will hurt him.'_ Midori gulps before asking shyly, "Kuro, c-can I give you something for good luck? To find her I mean."

Kuro looks back at her confused as she looks back at him with pleading eyes. He raises a brow before answering, "Sure." Then to his surprise, Midori walks a little closer to him until she's right in front of him. Her head rises up to his face and her eyes are closed. When he blinks in surprise of her sudden closure, Midori leans her beak close to his lip and she lightly presses them against his. His eyes are wide as she only kisses him for just a moment.

'_I think I…I think I've probably fallen in love with Kuro.'_

When Midori breaks the kiss and backs away, Kuro's eyes are still wide and he says nothing from her kiss. Then another surprising thing happens. Midori suddenly feels weird as she looks down at her body and she's glowing dark green. Kuro watches as the animals stop playing and turn to the light that has captured their attention. There they see Midori's swan body transform back into her human self.

When the light fades away, Midori's eyes widen as she sees fingers and hands instead of a wing. She looks at the rest of her body and she doesn't have feathers any more. She has legs, she has arms, she has clothes, and she's bigger. She bends her fingers and looks at her palms and the back of her hand and her palm again. Kuro remains where he is, speechless as she breathes out, "I'm…back."

"Human!!"

Midori looks up and she sees the animals running back to the safety of their homes in the trees or in holes. Quickly, Midori yells, "Hold on! I'm not going to hurt you. Please come back." But it appears that the animals don't believe her.

One squirrel yells, "Liar!! You tricked us!"

"You want to kill us!" a rat accuses.

Midori lets out a sigh before telling them, "If I wanted to hurt you, don't you think that I would have done that while I was a swan, when all of you had your guard down?" She has a point there.

Then to her surprise, Kuro has his arms wrap around her; pulling her close. "Kohakuchou-chan!!" he cheers. Midori turns red and the animals are surprised as he pulls her close and tight.

Mostly out of embarrassment, she yells, "Kuro!! I can't breathe!" She pushes Kuro away but he's still smiling.

He tells her, "Thanks for the good luck charm. It really worked." Now she's red from remembering that and it gets worst when Kuro puts on a little smirk on his face. "But why was it a kiss, kohakuchou-chan?"

Midori tries to look away so that she won't explode as she answers, "That was just my way of saying 'good luck'!"

He pushes further. "Do you always kiss someone as a way to say good luck?" She's doomed now. Then he reminds, "I thought you told me that you like someone else. So why the sudden change of heart?"

When she looks back at him, her cheeks are really red and he had to admit, she looks really cute. She looks down and fiddles with her fingers as she answers, "W-well it's because my point of view of looking at you has changed. You're really kind to animals that some humans find kind of terrifying and I know why you're here." _'You're a very considerate person no matter what the reason,'_ she thinks. She was thinking about saying that but maybe there are a few things she should keep to herself or he might get too cocky. But Kuro's smirk is gone and he's looking at her with blank eyes.

"Are you going to tell?" he asks, trying to look at her face. She looks up a bit and she sees his waiting sapphire blue eyes. They scream out that he doesn't want her to tell but he's asking because he wants to hear what she will say to that.

She tells him, "No." Then she looks away again, explaining, "Especially since I ran away but even if I didn't, I wouldn't tell."

Remembering the day that he found her as a swan, Kuro asks out of curiosity, "Why did you run?"

Her face fell, like an old wound just stung and sent pains through her body. Seeing her expression causes Kuro to look at her with curiosity confusion. She still keeps her head down as she tells him, "I don't want to say."

Kuro sees the sorrow and pain in her face and he gets this sudden urge to relieve her of her pain. To her surprise, he grasps her hand in a comforting hold. She looks at him in surprise of his touch and the electric shocks it sends through her whole body. His voice sounds gentle as he tells her, "Midori, when you were a swan, I told you my problems and you were a good listener. Let me listen to your problems this time and be the good listener. Trust me, it makes you feel a whole lot better." Midori looks at him and he's talking to her so sincerely and he looks like he really cares.

She answers, "I just found out that I am half of what you are." Kuro gasps at that as she nods. She answers his unasked question. "It's true. Our parents didn't know about our little super hero adventure. When they did, they tried to make us stop because it was too dangerous. I got angry and then mom confessed to me her past and that my father is really an alien."

Kuro asks, "Do you know your father's name?" Midori shakes her head.

"She didn't say."

"How did you took it? If someone told me I'm half human, I would freak out."

"Well I didn't exactly go on a freak out," she tells him. "I felt like that small piece of information made sense. I always knew I was different but never different species different." Then her head snaps up in realization. "Now that I think about it, there was one time when I was a kid and I was flying all over the place, literally. And I got yelled at for blasting things to bits. Mom told me never to do that stuff again."

Kuro seems fascinated with this piece of information. He asks, "Do you think you can still do it?"

"I don't know," she answers softly. She looks down again as she echoes, "I don't know. I don't remember how and I feel a little scared about it. Having extra special gifts that no one who lived on earth their whole lives can possess. Now my friends know that I'm not normal and that terrifies me."

"Why?" he asks gently.

She looks up and answers, "Because they might reject me. I've known them my whole lives and they're my only friends. To have them reject me because I'm half of what we're supposed to be fighting will kill me. It's already bad enough that I know that my mom never wanted me to begin with."

Seeing the pain on her face causes Kuro to feel pain as well. He then pulls a fast one on her. His other hand wraps around her and pulls her close to him. By the time she looks up to him from the sudden hold, he presses his lips against her. Her heart makes a sudden sprint into a fmile run and her eyes widen from the kiss. But from the kiss, there is also bliss. She closes her eyes and melts under his lips. The animals are amazed by this as Kuro pulls her closer, his hand still grasping hers and her other hand rests against his chest.

When they broke the kiss for breath, Kuro pushes her head against his shoulder. She lays there in his comfortable hold as he tells her, "I will accept you, no matter what you are." Her cheeks are already red but her daze eyes look up at him and she nods.

"Thank you."

He smiles from her answer before giving her a small kiss in her forehead. "Would you like to relearn your extra abilities?"

"Huh?" she lets out, getting up to look at him in confusion.

He still has a smile on his face as tells her, "If you want, I can help you relearn what you should already know."

She looks surprise as she asks, "Are you sure?"

"I would rather fight you when you're using one hundred percent of your powers instead of only fifty percent," he answers.

"But I beat you anyway, right?" she asks, trying to remind him of that.

He dryly answers, "Oh ha ha." He releases her but still grasps her hand as he stands up. "Come on. Let's start with flying."

"What?!"

Before she knew it, he teleports. One moment they're on solid ground, the next they're fifty feet up in the air. She looks down and instantly freaks. If he wasn't grasping her hands so tightly, she would probably cling to him in fright. Instead, she asks, "Are you crazy?!"

He still smiles as he answers, "Not all the time, kohakuchou-chan." Then he lets her go and she begins to fall.

"AAAHHHH!!!" she screams, falling to the ground. The animals gasp in fear as Kuro looks completely at ease. Midori closes her eyes as the ground gets closer and closer and soon she will meet her crushing death. But it never came. Confusion decorates Midori's face as she opens her eyes. She looks down and she's at least three feet above the ground. She wonders, "How the heck?!"

Kuro glides down to her level and he asks, "How was that?"

She looks at him upset as she grabs his collar and pulls him close in a threatening way. "Were you trying to kill me, you butthead?!"

He doesn't seem that scared as he tells her, "Relax, relax, kohakuchou-chan. Tell me, how did you feel when you were falling?"

"I was scared out of my mind!" she answers. "How would you feel if you were the one falling?!"

"Please try to understand my intentions, kohakuchou-chan." Kuro grabs her wrists and pulls her hands off his collar. She allows that as he tells her, "To master your powers is purely instinct. I can't tell you how to fly. You have to do that yourself. I'm just the guide." Midori loses her anger and looks at him in surprise. He has a point. If he told her how to feel when flying, then she might get confused like how she does in a math during school. Kuro smiles as he tells her, "Congratulations, though! This is your first step in knowing how to use your powers. Can you try to go higher? Just remember how you were feeling when you're falling and then think up."

Midori blinks for a bit before looking back at how she's flouting above three feet of ground. _'Well I did tell myself to just fly as hard as I can so maybe…'_

Midori then thought of up and when she does, she ends up four feet off the ground. Her eyes widen in amazement as she continues to think up. Kuro stays where he is as he watches her rise up farther and farther up. Soon a smile appears on her face. She stretches out her legs and continues to rise up higher. Soon she was where Kuro dropped her. She looks down at Kuro and he has a small smile on his face.

"Good job, kohakuchou-chan! I'm proud of you," he tells her.

Midori's eyes brighten up as she puts on a true happy smile. "And it's all thanks to you, Kuro! Thank you." Kuro looks at her in surprise of her smile. To test it out, Midori goes forward and does a loop. She laughs out in joy as she continues to fly through the air. Kuro watches her, still surprised by her smile. That is probably the first time that she ever smiled at him. It was...really beautiful.

Kuro couldn't help but smile just a tiny bit and his eyes look sweet as he chuckles at Midori's crazy behavior. He starts to fly up as he tells her, "Hey, you want the others to find you?! Now calm down and I'll help you with teleportation!"

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It's sunset and Midori collapses on the ground, tired. Kuro flouts closer to the ground to hear her whine, "I'm exhausted!!" Then some of the animals come running towards her.

"Midori-chan was amazing!" some of them cheer. Midori looks up at them and gives them a tired smile as Kuro couldn't agree more with the animals.

"She was. For someone who hasn't been using her powers nearly her whole life, she picked it up pretty fast to say. I'm very impressed and very proud."

Midori looks up at him and gives him a sweeter smile. "Thanks, Kuro. Most of the credit should go to you. You were a good guide."

Kuro tells her, "You had it easy, kohakuchou-chan. When I was taught how to use my powers, I nearly got traumatize when my father dropped me fifty feet in the air. Sometimes I thought he was trying to kill me." Midori looks at him in surprise as the smile is still on his face. The way he acted when Midori asked what was wrong with his father, anyone would get the impression that it's a touchy subject. But now it sounds like Kuro can talk so freely about him, like he's proud of his father or something.

Kuro looks up at the sky and it's sunset. "I should probably leave now. It's really late." The minute he said that, Midori tenses up. She suddenly jumps up and wraps her arms around him. The animals, girls mostly, gasp from her action as Kuro looks at her, startled from the sudden hug.

Her hold gets a little tighter as she tells him softly, "Please don't. I don't want you to leave." The girls have dreamy eyes from the scene as Kuro looks at her now surprised by her words.

Kuro wraps his arms around her and she becomes intoxicated with his scent and his warmth. "If you don't want me to go then I'll stay."

Midori closes her eyes and relaxes in his hold. "Thank goodness."

"But first!"

Midori looks at him in confusion as he pulls himself back and gives her a quick peck. She turns red as he smirks. "I'll take that as payment," he tells her with a teasing grin on his face. That was when she got a little angry.

"You jerk!" she yells. "I'll blast you!" Then she gets a blast ready as Kuro pulls back.

He tells her, "Careful with that! This is different than running with scissors!"

"Then you better run, huh?"

Kuro starts running away as Midori chases after him with a blast in her hand. The animals just watch, the guys now a bit scared with Midori as the girls are still in the lovey-dovey mood.

"How romantic," they breathe out. Now the guys are looking at the girl animals weird.

Midori suddenly stops running and teleports from behind Kuro to in front of him. He stops from her sudden appearance and she jumps on him. They both fall and the blast in Midori's hand disappears as she's on top of him on the ground. Before Kuro knew it, her lips press against his as her hands hold his wrists down. The kiss was a small one so she ended it before he had time to kiss her back.

Midori softly smiles at him as she tells him, "I'll take that as payment." Then she starts laughing and in no time, Kuro laughs with her. Midori let's go of his wrists and just lays on top of him. "I'm exhausted now. You wasted too much of my energy."

He wraps his arms around her as he tells her, "It was well wasted." She chuckles and he holds her closer while giggling.

"Kuro-chan! Midori-chan!"

Both of them look up, not getting up as the animals tell them, "We're going to bed now! See you tomorrow!"

"Good night," Midori tells them.

"Don't let the bed bugs bite," Kuro jokes.

A bird tells them, "I eat those for dinner." Then the animals scurry away back into their homes. Kuro and Midori watch them go before relaxing back on the ground they lay on.

An hour or two pass and the sky becomes dark and decorated with stars. Thanks to the lack of city lights to blind them, the sky is really beautiful. Midori is usually asleep by now when she was a swan but now that she's back to her old self and her sleep schedule is back to normal, she's especially amazed with the view. They both stayed up long enough to see the stars multiply and the moon illuminate over head.

As the night went on, Midori eventually went to sleep, mostly because she's exhausted from Kuro's guidance. When Kuro noticed that, he teleported from the open to under a tree for shelter but this time, they're both sitting up but he has Midori sitting on his lap and her head leaning against his shoulder. She seems to be deep asleep for she did not stir at all when it was happening. Kuro was starting to fall asleep as well but he did something before he did that. He kisses her forehead one more time and smiles against her skin.

"I love you, Midori," he whispers so that she doesn't wake up. "Tomorrow, I will ask you to go away with me and we'll be together forever."

Then Kuro closes his eyes for the night and sleeps under the stars with Midori sleeping soundly in his arms.


	12. Confessions and Rejections

Ch. 12: Confessions and Rejections

It's morning and Midori wakes up in the still sleeping arms of Kuro. The sun is shining over their own little paradise with the blue skies being decorated by white fluffy clouds and a cool breeze blowing through the trees and her hair. From the looks of it, it's early morning like maybe about tenish. Midori didn't care what time it was. When she looks up at Kuro's sleeping face, he looks so peaceful, so at ease. She slightly smiles when she remembers how she's with Kuro by her side. She slowly and carefully gets out of his hold to stretch. That was probably the first time that she slept outside without sleeping on the lake. She notices that instead of laying on the grassy ground like she remembers being before she fell asleep, she's under a tree in its shade with lights the shape of diamonds shining on her skin. She didn't care. So long as she's with Kuro she doesn't care. Besides, waking up under a tree is a lot better than sleeping in the open to only see a bad sunburn on your skin first thing in the morning.

Then she suddenly feels arms wrapping around her, catching her by surprise. She yelps and looks over her shoulder to see Kuro smiling at her. Wasn't he asleep not too long ago? He greets, "Good morning, kohakuchou-chan! I had a wonderful time last night." He said the last part with a seductive voice. Midori turns red before whacking him on the top of his head.

Kuro holds his head in pain as Midori yells, "Don't say things like that! Do you have any idea how perverted that sounds when nothing actually happened?!" The animals woke up after hearing that and peak out to see Midori angry and embarrassed from Kuro as Kuro appears to be in pain from the head.

Kuro rubs the bonk on his head as he tries to look hurt – the beady, glossy eyes, and the droopy lips. "I just wanted to hug you, kohakuchou-chan. It's the first thing I want to do every day." Midori is blushing but she's still angry.

She tries to look away, her arms crossed in front of her chest as she says, "You shouldn't tease me like that!"

Kuro just smiles from her spunky attitude. He crawls closer to her, his head now leaning over her shoulder and he asks, "Do you want more practice on your powers after I go get something for us to eat?" Midori didn't say anything right away. She still looks angry.

"Alright," she mumbles, giving in. Kuro grins from her answer.

He gets off her and tells her, "I'll be back okay?" Then he teleports away and Midori watches him leave. After a bit, she lets out a sigh and shakes her head while smiling.

"That crazy alien," she mutters.

"Mama, mama!"

Hearing that, Midori turns to where the animals are she sees a nest full of baby birds and a female bird next to the nest. The chicks echo, "We're hungry! We're hungry!"

"Alright," the mama bird replies.

Midori watches as the mama bird flies to the ground and starts pecking around. In no time, she got a big cockroach in her mouth. She flies back to the nest where her three baby birds await. Usually people would be disgusted when they see a baby bird each a cockroach but Midori didn't flinch. She still watches as the mama bird goes back down to find two more bugs to feed to her other babies.

During that time, Midori's face softens as she starts to think of her own mom. "Mama," she softly speaks.

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Midori blocks the scythe and pushes it away with one Sai. She uses her other sai to try and stab Kuro but he ducks and tries to kick at her knees. She jumps up and starts flying in the air. He looks up and she has on a mocking smile.

"Missed me, missed me!" she yells from high up. "Now you have to kiss me."

Kuro smirks as he tells her, "I will gladly do that, kohakuchou-chan." He flies up to be on the same level as her but he asks, "But shouldn't you do the same since you missed?"

"I claimed it first," she tells him, "so nope."

Midori charges at him, one sai at a time. He blocks both of them at time with the handle of his scythe and he tries to stab her from under. She teleports away and appears behind her. Instead of hitting him, she kisses his cheek. He turns around to her and tells him, "I changed my mind." He stares at her blankly and she smirks. She took that moment to cross her Sais and point it at him. By the time he gained his composure, a blast hits him and he starts falling to the ground. The animals watch him fall and crash into the ground. Kuro's scythe disappears as he sits up. He rubs his head from the impact and the next thing he feels is Midori's Sai at his neck. He looks up at her in surprise as she stands front of him, panting. She asks, "Do you give?"

Kuro lets out a chuckle. "One should know when it times to give up."

Midori smiles and pulls her Sais away. They disappear and she starts jumping up and down in victory. "Yes!!" she cheers. "I beat the teacher! Whahoo!!"

Kuro stands up and tells her, "Congratulations, kohakuchou-chan." She turns to him and calms down as he bows. "I bow to your mastery of your amazing powers." She turns a bit red in happiness as she cheers again.

"Whahoo!!"

That was when the animals started clapping for her. They clap, cheer her name, and even whistle in congratulations for her. She stops jumping to see the animals cheer for her and she smiles from their support. Then she feels arms grab her from behind. She already knows who it is as she looks up to see Kuro smiling at her.

"I'm so proud of you," he tells her.

She turns around to face him completely as she says, "And I should say that you deserve all the credit, sensei!" Then she jumps on him and hugs him with her arms around his neck. He accepts her hug and from her jump, they twirl a bit. When they stop after the second turn, they both have their feet on the ground and just held each other as tight as they can. The animals stayed quiet to watch the cute scene before them as it appeared that both Kuro and Midori held each other for the longest time. To them, the world around them seemed to have disappeared. All that matter was them and the warmth they share.

"Midori," Kuro calls, gently. He has her attention as he asks, "Are you..happy being with me?"

Midori looks a bit confused as she answers, "Yes. I'm very happy." He pulls her back slowly and she looks up at his face. He didn't hesitate to kiss her and she didn't waste time returning the affection. Her hands move from behind his neck to his face and she cups his face with her hands. One of his hands stays behind Midori's back to hold her close as the other rises up to the back of her head to be lost in her pink hair. When that kiss broke, they gave each other one more before stopping.

"Come with me," Kuro told her.

"Eh?" Midori lets out in surprise of the question as her hands slides down for his face.

He pulls his arms off her and only grasps her hands as he continues. "I cannot defy my father, Midori. So by his command, I will continue to destroy the humans of this planet but I want you to be the only human survivor because I cannot not live in this world without you by my side. I love you." Midori's eyes are wide and her heart is pounding fast in her chest. Kuro pulls her towards him and wraps his arms around her. Her arms hang on the side of her body as he holds her closer. "I want to spend the rest of my life with you. I know I will be happy with you and I know I can make you happy."

Midori is happy. There is no doubt about that. Her heart is beating fast and hard in her chest, like it will burst out of her chest and dance for joy but there is something else. Midori wants to hold him and say yes but she can't. Her hands rise up to his body but she pushes him back. Kuro's confused as she's looking down at the ground. She tells him, "I can't, Kuro." He could not believe what he just heard.

"Why?" he asks. "Tell me why, Midori because I know that you ran away. You left your world behind."

She corrects, "I ran away because I was angry at my mom for keeping secrets." Bringing her up made Kuro instantly upset. Midori still wouldn't face him so she continued. "Yes, I was hurt because of her secrecy but she is still my mom, Kuro. I'd watched her all my life and she lived a hard life trying to support the both of us. She could have run away from it but she didn't. She stuck to it. If I keep running because of my own selfishness, then I will never move on with my life. I have to return to her." That was when he got seriously angry.

Kuro grabs her arms and Midori looks up to him in shock of this action. In his sapphire eyes, she sees the fiery flames of anger and hatred burning and it scared her. He asks her, "Are you only saying this because you were using me from the beginning! That you never really cared about me at all?!" She didn't answer. She's shocked by his words and she wants to say something but his eyes scare her and paralyze his throat. Getting impatient, his hold gets tighter and he shakes her. "Answer me!" he commands.

His grip is strong and she winces in pain. She tells him, "You're hurting me." Her voice is weak from the pain and her face reveals that as well. His eyes widen for a moment and most of the fire has died, but not all of it.

Kuro lets her go by pushing her away. She stumbles and takes steps back. She looks at him but he's not looking at her. His voice sounds harsh and cold and he tells her, "See ya, runt." The last word hurt her deeply but not as much as she can see him teleporting away.

"Kuro, wait!!" she screams, but he is already gone. He left before he even heard her.

Moments later, Midori's legs went weak and she collapses to the floor. She stares at the area he was once standing in and her eyes are already leaking out tears. There she starts sobbing.

"WAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!" she screams, her heart exploding in pain and her tears never ending.

Some of the animals came down from the trees or out of their holes to approach her. The other stayed away. One squirrel that approaches her goes to her leg and leans her first front paws on her. "Midori-chan, are you okay?" she asks. Kind of a stupid question since she's crying so much but it was her instinct of concern.

Soon rocks and acorns were being thrown at Midori. She stops sobbing when she felt a small rock hit her head. The animals that approach her turn around and they see the other animals throwing rocks and acorns at her. Some hit her while the others missed. Most of them were rats and males.

"You evil human!!" one of them yells.

One sparrow by Midori's side screams, "Stop it!" But she nearly got hit for that.

One rat yells, "She hurt Kuro-chan!"

A squirrel yells, "She chased him away!"

A female rat yells, "She broke his heart!!"

"She's a cold, heartless human!!" they all accuse.

"I didn't reject him because I didn't love him!!" Midori screams. All of the animals looked at her from that as they stopped throwing rocks and acorns at her. Midori takes a moment to sniff and wipe away some of her tears before repeating softer, "I didn't reject him…because I didn't love him. I love him. I love him with all of my heart but why…why can't he understand it?!" She starts crying again and now the animals are looking at her with pity and sympathy. She repeats the three words once again. "I love him."

As she continues to cry her heart out, all of the animals approach her and try to comfort her.


	13. Betrayal of the Heart

Ch. 13: Betrayal of the Heart

It's late in the afternoon on day seven that Midori has gone missing. The other Mew Mews and the Ka Kas told Ichigo to go home and rest. She hasn't slept and eaten for days since Midori left and if she doesn't rest or get her energy up soon, how the heck is she suppose to try and clear up the misunderstanding between her and Midori if she's willing to run at the sight of her? But as stubborn as she is, Ichigo is just sitting at her table with a cup of hot strong green tea on the table and she has her fingers tangled in her messy hair.

After a moment of thought, she reaches for her tea and takes a small sip. Then she hears a knock on the door. She puts the cup down and turns around to the door. She asks, "Midoir?!" Then without another second thought, she gets up and runs to the door as the knock continues. "Midori!"

She opens the door completely and instead of seeing her beloved daughter, probably all dirty and starved, she sees a pale hand right in front of her eyes. Before she could move or question it, the hand glows bluish grey and suddenly she feels really sleepy. Before she could register what just happened, Ichigo falls asleep and collapses to the ground. But her attacker didn't let her fall.

Kuro catches the fallen Ichigo on his shoulder and his face looks blank. No smirk, a look of teasing, or even pleasure. His face and his eyes are blank as he teleports away from the house with Ichigo.

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After what happened, Midori just wanted to go home. The animals comforted her and told her that when Kuro comes back, they can kiss and make up and then she can tell him that she loves him. But she doesn't feel like she won't be able to; not after seeing that face. She told them that she wanted to go home and they told her that they will help with leading her out of the forest but when they start to see the buildings, they won't accompany her. She told them thanks and they helped her out of the forest. She told them bye and they told her that things will get better. She told them that she hopes but secretly doubts it.

Then on the way home, she was alone and she liked it like that. No one to tell her that they missed her, they were worried, or even battle cries. It was just her and silence. She was grateful for it until she started to see the familiar streets of her home town and she can see her home coming up. At the moment, she was dreading the idea of seeing her mother and hearing her but there is no backing down now. But her dread dissolved as soon as she saw the front door. The front door is open and suddenly she has a really bad inside her guts.

She runs to the front door and looks around. She calls, "Mom? Mom!" But there is no answer. Getting worried, she just comes into the house without taking her shoes off and runs all over the house in search of her mother.

"Mom!" she calls, entering the kitchen. Still not there. But she does see an empty chair at a table with a cup of tea. She walks over to the cup and touches it. It's cold.

Then she turns around to look somewhere else but she sees two words on the wall as soon as she turned around; 'She's Dead'. The words seemed carved but not fast. More like the creator just made the lines to show the message and that's it. He didn't waste time and it was someone Midori suddenly got scared of.

Immediately, Midori runs to the door and heads straight for the café. She needs help if Kuro has Ichigo.

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In the park, the Ka Kas are already fighting with at least five big kirema animas. There are others but their so small that they can only do little damage. But little damage is worst than no damage. Kashoka used his staff to hit away as much as possible while trying to handle with a sand kirema anima, Kiiro is using her jump rope while also trying to fight with a termite kirema anima, Morizaki is having problems with an octopus kirema anima and is trying to shot the small fries with her bow and arrows, and Aoi is slicing the small fries with his big sword but is also trying to fight a sunflower kirema anima. While they were fighting them, Kuro is there watching them and by his side is a kirema anima that is in the shape of a fox but is covered with worms. Haiiro and Aka are there too but they are far off, watching Kuro work with them.

Haiiro calls, "Hey, Aka!" Aka looks at her from the corner of his eyes as she asks, "Do you think something is wrong with Kuro? He's been acting strange all day."

Aka simply answers, "He is taking the mission more seriously than before."

"Yeah, I know but what do you think caused it? He didn't come back last night and now he's acting like the world collapsed on him and he's angry at whoever did it. You can say that you don't care but I do. I'm worried." Aka didn't say anything right away. She's right.

He lets out a sigh and says, "I am worried but what can we do about his behavior?"

Haiiro looks a little sad as she answers, "I don't know. Something because I'm afraid he might end up like his father and like ours, we can't do anything to cure him." The conversation ended and they look back at the fight below.

"Star Tiger Fang!!" Aoi sends his attack at the sunflower kirema anima and it falls backwards. It didn't disappear but Aoi didn't care as he charges at Kuro with his sword ready to slice his flesh. Kuro didn't phase.

Kuro lifts his hand up and points his fingers are him. Kuro tells him in a cold blank voice, "This kirema anima isn't for you to play with." Then with that, he blast Aoi. Aoi got hit and went flying back to the kirema anima. The kirema anima was prepared. It grabbed Aoi with its vines and started to choke him.

"Aoi-kun!!" Morizaki screams. She was going to go help him but her kirema anima grabs her ankle. She turns around just in time for another tentacle to grab her. It starts crushing her.

The termite kirema anima creates a flash of light and it blinds Kiiro. Kiiro covers her eyes from the light and the next thing she feels is the termite pushing her down. When she looks up, she sees its mouth raised and ready to stab her. Kashoka sees that from the corner of his eyes and gets distracted. The sand kirema anima took that time to come crashing into him like a wave and it wraps around him like a ball. Kashoka is in the middle and the sand is starting to crush him. He can't breathe and now the sand is crushing his bones. How wonderful. Aoi is being strangled, Kashoka and Morizaki are getting crushed, and Kiiro is going to be stabbed and possibly sucked the living blood out of her. Aka watches with no emotion as Haiiro looks a bit surprised to see Kiiro in danger. Almost like…she wants to save her. The termite then thrusts the mouth down to Kiiro, soon to meet her small body until…

_Boom_

A blast hits the termite right in the mouth, similar to an alien attack. Kiiro is surprise to see that as the termite dissolves away. For a moment, she thought that Haiiro helped but when she looks up, she's surprise to who did. Kuro stares blankly as the aliens are startled by her sudden appearance and her attack. Ka Ka Midori quickly flies to the sand kirema anima and dives into it without hesitation. In only seconds, she comes out with Kashoka. She puts Kashoka on the ground to rest and he only has a moment to see her before she points her Sais at the sand kirema anima and a huge blast forms. She launches it and it hits the kirema anima right on. Because of the heat of the attack, the outside layer of it turns to glass, trapping the rest of it inside a glass case. She turns to Morizaki and doesn't waste time rushing to her and cutting here away from the octopus. Morizaki lands on the ground and looks up to see the kirema anima aiming its tentacles at Midori. Midori drops her sais for a moment and grabs one. The kirema anima looks nervous as Midori grips her hold on the tentacle. A green electricity runs through the kirema anima and it screams from the pain. Then Midori pulls the tentacle and she throws it at the sand kirema anima. The Ka Kas and the aliens are surprised she threw something so heavy at the sand kirema anima. The octopus kirema anima uses its suction cups to hold on the glass while Midori opens her palms to call back her Sais. The sais return to her hands in moment. She turns to Aoi and flies to his aid. She cuts the flower right off the stem and grabs the petals. She throws it at the sand and octopus kirema animas and summons her sais again. She crosses them and points it at the pile of kirema animas.

"Circle Swan Wing!!" she cries. The attack forms into a huge shape of a swan and it flies over to the kirema animas. When the form engulfs the kirema animas, it took moments before they disappeared. Because the head was destroyed, the stem and the vines of the sunflower kirema anima dries up and Aoi breaks the vines because of his weight. As he falls, Midori turns around to see him falling. She allows her Sais to disappear as she flies over to his aid again. She catches him and both of them look at each other face to face as she glides down to the ground. For one moment, Kuro's expression looks hurt and pain as he sees them together. But it disappears and he returns to his blank emotionless face. Midori asks Aoi, "Are you okay?"

Aoi is still in shock as he asks, "Is that really you, Midori?" Midori looks at him confused as the next thing she feels is children arms around her neck.

"Midori onee-chan!!" Kiiro cheers, happy to see her. Kashoka and Morizaki are also by their side when Midori looks up.

"We were looking everywhere for you," Morizaki tells her.

Kiiro's grip gets tighter as she cries, "We missed you so much, ra ro da! We are so sorry, ra ro da!"

Kashoka quickly tells her, "No matter what you are, you will always be our friend. How could one little thing affect our friendship?"

Midori stares at all of them in surprise as the next thing she feels is a hand gripping her own. She looks at her hand and Aoi is holding it. He raises it to his mouth and kisses it. Kuro's eyes widen in anger as Midori looks unaffected by the kiss. Aoi tells her, "Don't ever leave us again." Midori sweetly smiles and nods.

She looks at all of her friends and tells them, "Everyone, thank you and I'm sorry I was late." Then she looks up at Kuro and he's still looking at her blankly. She pulls her hand back and pulls Kiiro's arms off. She stands up and walks pass them. "You guys stay put. You're all tired and wounded. I got this one." She walks closer towards Kuro and his kirema anima as he continues to just stare at her. When she sees his sapphire blue eyes staring at her with no emotion, so unlike the Kuro she loves, her heart aches. She had to gulp before she stops walking. "Where is she?!" she screams. The Ka Kas give a small jolt in surprise of that while Kuro gives no answer. He actually raises one arm and snaps his fingers.

At his command, the kirema anima opens its mouth. Midori looks scared and shocked as the Ka Kas are surprised. Inside is an unconscious Ichigo. She rests on the tongue of the kirema anima and the very sight of her makes Midori as scared and worried as a mother and her own child on a dangerous object. Even the aliens above are surprise to see her as the kirema anima closes its mouth. When Midori can no longer see her mom, she looks up at Kuro and she's angry. No, she's pissed off.

"Kuro!" she screams, her voice full of venom. "Let her go, now!! Or I will blast your sorry ass!!"

"On one condition," he answers. The Ka Kas are surprised because he hasn't spoken all day and only now he is. Midori is only surprise because his voice sounds so dead. He summons his scythe and tells her, "Blast my sorry ass, then. If you win, I will let her go and you may leave with your life. If I win, then you both die." Midori's eyes are wide. She doesn't want to do this but to save her mom's life, she has to.

Midori opens her hands and her Sais appear. She grasps them and answers, "I accept the terms!"

Kuro raises his scythe, ready to fight as he tells her, "You will die, runt."

She tries not to show her pain as she tells him back, "I don't die so easily." Then she springs into the air towards him and he flies towards her to meet her half way. Their weapons clash together with a loud _cling_ and they force the other back. A moment later, they back off and try again. They try again and again as the Ka Kas and the other aliens just watch, astounded by the fight before them. Neither one of them have ever seen a fight like this before between the two.

Midori tries to slice Kuro in half vertically and he teleports away. When she looks over her shoulder, he's already behind her and he's ready to cut her horizontally. She lifts her legs up and flies a little higher to miss the blade and she wacks her sais at him. He blocks the Sais and they're pushing each other again. Softly a quickly, Midori leans closer to him and pleads, "Kuro, please let her go."

But he answers, "That's not going to work on me this time." He pushes her back and she flies a few feet away from him. She stares at him hurt and he's still glaring at her with cold eyes. Every beat that her heart pulsed released a load of pain through her body like she's been thrown around this whole time with broken bones, blood, or bruises to prove it. But she has none. The only thing that does have is one sneaky tear. It leaks out of the corner of her eye and rolls down her cheek, but only one tear. That one tear was enough for Kuro to look confused. Midori didn't see that. She looked away and clenches her grip on her Sais. When she looks back at him, she tries to look strong and fearless.

"Fine!" she yells. "Then I will take her by force!" She crosses her Sais and starts forming a blast. He was so caught up with the tear that Kuro looked at the blast in surprise. When it was big enough, Midori launches it at him and he quickly raises his scythe to block it. When it was gone, Kuro saw Midori passing him from the corner of his eye. He turns around to see her flying towards the kirema anima.

"Circle Swan Wing!!" she cries, attacking the kirema anima. Kuro watches as the attack shaped like a swan flies to the fox kirema anima and engulfs it. As the fox dissolves away, Ichigo begins to fall to the hard stone floor. Midori instantly started flying towards her. She catches her and glides down to the floor carefully. "Mom! Mom!! Wake up!" Midori screams in fear. Her friends got up and run to her side to check on Ichigo.

Aka mumbles, "Interesting."

Haiiro asks, "Where do you believe she learned that?"

"How can she is the question I'm most interested in."

Kuro stares at Midori a little longer, remembering her tear. He looks to the side upset as he makes his scythe disappear. _'She won fair and square. Now I must depart.'_ With that, he teleports away. He catches his friends off guard as they teleport after him when they saw him leave. No use staying around when your enemies have other things on their minds.

Midori shakes Ichigo again and this time, Ichigo begins to open her eyes. She looks up and besides the blinding light of the midday, she sees her daughter's face. The sight of her daughter fully awakens her. Her eyes and mouth are wide as she asks, "Midori?!"

Midori is startled by her sudden action and question but relaxes and nods. "I'm back, mom," she says with a smile. Without another second, Ichigo sits up straighter and hugs her daughter.

"Midori!!" she screams, tears rolling down her face. "I'm so happy you're back! I'm sorry for what I said. Please forgive me!"

Midori looks at her mom with gentle eyes before hugging her in comfort. She tells her mom, "There is nothing for you to feel sorry for. I'm sorry I ran away. You must have been worried." Ichigo nods. She apparently is too busy crying. But after a few minutes, she speaks again.

"You had every right too," Ichigo tells her. "You were shocked and confused. I understand that and my words didn't help either. There is something I need to tell you."

"Not now," Midori tells her. Midori pulls away and Ichigo stares at her daughter's face while she asks, "Can we go back to the café? Everyone else is there, right?" Ichigo wipes away the remaining tears on her face and nods.

"Okay," she agrees. "Let's go home." The other Ka Kas smile at the mother and daughter scene as both Midori and Ichigo stand up. Midori returns back into her human form before wrapping her arms around her mother's waist and Ichigo puts one arm on her shoulder. Together, they start walking to the café and Midori's friends turn back into humans as well before fallowing them.

At the café just like how Midori said, all of the adults are there and as soon as the adults see Midori, they gasp in surprise and attacked.

"Midori-chan!!" Lettuce and Pudding scream before clobbering her. She falls to the ground and Ichigo is wide eye from that.

Kiiro and Kashoka yell out, "Ah! Mama/Mother!!" Aoi and Morizaki are the same as Ichigo, their eyes are wide from seeing the adults act like that.

Lettuce and Pudding get up a bit and Midori looks up to see Lettuce crying. "Where were you, Midori-chan?" she asks.

Pudding tells her, "Everyone was worried about you! Especially Ichigo onee-chan! She could have gotten a heart attack!"

Midori puts on an apologetic smile as she says, "Sorry, sorry."

Then she sees Ryou standing over her as he tells her, "Don't go running off like that again, you understand me?"

Midori nods. "Yes, Uncle Ryou. I'm sorry for attacking you."

He puts on a gentle small smile as he tells her, "Don't be. You were upset and it looked like to me that the blast appeared out of instinct." Midori's brows widen for a moment before her eyes began to show sorrow. She knows someone else who told her those words.

Ichigo sees her daughter's distress and quickly tells him, "It doesn't matter anymore. She's home and that's all that matters." She looks back at Midori and smiles. Midori looks at her and smiles in return. Lettuce and Pudding stood up. Ichigo goes up to them and scolds, "But next time something like this happens, don't clobber her. She's been through enough!"

"Mom!" Midori calls. "Please, they're right. I shouldn't have run off. It was childish of me to just leave without listening to reason. There also won't be a next time. I'm home now and I don't plan to leave ever again because my mom is all I have left. I promise." Everyone is surprised to hear her say that. She's look at all of them with a gentle expression. If they didn't know better, they would say that she appears really matured and so much in only a short period of time. All they can do is stare.

Then Midori touches her throat and comments, "My throat is dry. Can I have some water?" Ichigo nods.

"Sure," she answers. "I'll go get it." Then she goes off to the kitchen. Midori watches her go and she was left alone to her thoughts.

'_I'm home and I'm never leaving it behind. My mom, my friends, and the people who love me are here but…'_ Tears peek out of her eyes and so many of them began to fall down her face. _'How can I say that or even think that when in my heart I know that this can never be home without Kuro?!'_ Her heart is pounding hard in her chest as the pain begins to spread – loneliness, sorrow, and guilt. She can still see Kuro's smiling face, hear his sweet caring voice, smell his scent, and feel his warm gentle touch. She collapses to the ground and breaks down crying.

"Waaaaahhhh!" she wails, crying in her hands. Her friends and the adults look at her confused and concern as Ichigo sticks her head out of the kitchen. Aoi becomes the first to approach her.

"Midori?" he calls, kneeling down in front of her. He places his hands on her shoulder as he asks, "What's wrong?"

She doesn't answer. She just continues to cry. Ichigo pushes the doors of the kitchen to enter the café as the others began to surround her. They have never seen her cry like this. She's usually strong willed and holds her tears back when it matters. Last time they saw her cry was when Ichigo confessed about her past but that is nothing compared to how Midori is now.

Because she didn't answer, Aoi pulls Midori in a hug. He holds her as she just leans on his shoulder and cries. "Shh, shh," he tells her. "Everything will be alright from now on. You're home now." He's probably thinking that Midori must have been so scared and confused when she was gone but that's not it. She's crying because of a heart break but she doesn't say it. The others stayed where they are as they watch Aoi comfort Midori. While outside, someone looks hurt.

Kuro stands before the window and he sees Midori crying and how Aoi is comforting her. She's relaxed in his arms and she so easily allows him to hold her. He couldn't believe what he's seeing. His hand covers his mouth in shock as he turns away from the scene and the window. He leans his back on the café wall and he slides down to the ground. Minutes later, every time his heart pulsed, a wave of pain would run through his body, through his veins and hitting every blood cell. He winces from it. It hurts. It hurts so much.

But then he smirks. Moments later, he begins chuckling. The chuckling gets louder and louder and soon he looks up at the sky and laughs like a maniac.

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!"

His eyes are wide and wild and crazy. Moments later, he teleports back to the ship like that.


	14. Choices

Ch. 14: Choices

_Ring_

_Ring_

Ichigo walks over to the telephone in her house and picks it up. "Hello?" she answers.

On the other end, Aoi greets, "Hello, Aunty Ichigo."

"Aoi-kun, hi. Do you need something?" she asks.

"I was just wondering if Midori is coming to work today."

Ichigo shakes her head. "No, she's still in her room."

"How is she? It's been a few days now since she came home."

"I know. She still won't eat, sleep, or move from her bed."

"Have you tried talking to her? She can't keep acting like this."

"I know, Aoi-kun. I know but if I pressure her about it then she might run away again. Leaving her like this would mean that I would lose her as my sweet, smiling daughter. So either way, I could lose her."

Sadly Aoi nods. "I understand," he answers. Everyone else, even the parents see this as he tells Ichigo, "Thank you." Then he hangs up the phone.

Kashoka asks, "Midori-san is still sad?"

Aoi turns to them and nods. "Yeah. It's weird. I never seen her act like this before."

"None of us have, Aoi-kun," Morizaki tells him. "She's always smiling and she acts so strong. I highly doubt that the cause of her depression is the fact that she is a being born of earth and space. What ever happened since she was gone, it affected her greatly."

"I wish she would just tell us, ra ro da!" Kiiro blurts out. "We're her friends and friends are supposed to tell each other everything!"

Morizaki tells her, "Maybe she does want to tell us but the wound is deep and needs time to heal. Soon she will tell us because she trusts us and we will be there for her no matter what it is. The best thing to do is wait." Her friends stare at her for her wisdom as the parents continue to just watch from the side. They even have to admit that Midori's behavior is weird. Aoi looks down at the ground, upset and irritated.

Then all of a sudden without warning…

_Boom_

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_Knock, knock_

"Midori? I'm coming in."

Ichigo opens the door to her daughter's room and she sees Midori sitting on her bed, her legs up against her chest, her arms wrap around her legs, and her head facing the window. She has on a dark green tank top dress that reaches her knees if she was standing and a black bolero jacket with short sleeves on her shoulders, unbuttoned. Her eyes look like a blank as she just stares out the window. Ichigo stares at Midori with sympathy as she closes the door behind her and walks over to the bed.

"Midori," she calls again. This time, her daughter acknowledges her presences.

She looks at her mom with startled eyes as she says, "Oh, mom. I didn't hear you come in." Ichigo continues to stare at her daughter and now Midori looks confused. "Mom?" Ichigo didn't answer. Her hand rises to Midori's face and her finger tips touch Midori's eyes and her cheek. "Mom! What's wrong?"

"You haven't been eating, Midori," she tells her.

Midori tries to act like her nervous self as she waves her hands in front of her and quickly says, "I'm perfectly fine, mom! I just haven't been hungry lately that's all. I will eat soon."

"And you've been crying a lot." Midori stops her actions and stares at her mom in surprise. Ichigo pulls her hand back as she tells her, "You keep saying that every time I ask if you want your meals or that I mention you haven't been eating. If there is something wrong, please tell me."

Midori then looks guilty. She looks away, sad as she answers, "I will tell you but not now. I want to prepare you and everyone of the big news."

"Then will you listen to my big news?" Midori looks at her mom then and Ichigo lets out a sigh to prepare herself. She then confesses, "What I said about your father…was a lie." Midori's eyes widen in surprise as her mom continues. "He is an alien, don't get me wrong but I don't hate him. I can never hate him. I was just angry. I was angry with him since the day you were born but now I see that the anger nearly took you away from me. I was always fond of your father but when we were young, he was very possessive and yet his heart was in the right place. He just had the wrong approach to get a girl at the time. Then when he came back, he was less possessive and more mature. He started treating me like a person with feelings instead of a toy. I saw his golden heart and I fell for it, I just didn't realize until afterwards. When he got me pregnant, I told my parents and they immediately told me to get an abortion. They said that it would ruin my chances of getting into college and my future but the very thought of getting an abortion scared me to death. I didn't want to give up his child and the thought of going to college didn't seem to matter anymore. It was then that I realize that he was the person who I wanted to be with. So after convincing my parents to let me have the baby, I used the money I saved to go to America to see my boyfriend. I didn't tell him about the pregnancy but I told him that I can't go to the college because there is something important I need to do and that there is someone else. He understood and took the broke up calmly. We continued as friends and months later, I heard that he got a new girlfriend. I was happy for him and I was desperately waiting for your father to come back. But he never did. He just left me on earth with a child with no contact or anything. It felt like that after he took my virginity, he left me to rot with guilt. I couldn't believe that the one man I was gave up my future for never cared about me in the first place."

Midori can see the anger on her mom's face and she can hear it in her voice when she went on with her story. Even now, her mom is gripping her firsts together into tight balls and she's grinding her teeth. Midori places her hand on her mom's and Ichigo looks at her daughter in surprise, her anger now dissolving away. Midori tells her gently, "I'm sure that father means well. Maybe he was held up with something that delayed him. I know that the maybe eighteen years is a really long time but I believe in him. You should too."

'_After all,'_ Midori begins to think, _'Kuro did say that his father is not the same as how his uncles describe him. Maybe the reason why my father hasn't come is because he's trying to help his friend. If that's the reason, then I would understand completely and welcome my father when he comes with opens arms.'_

Ichigo's eyes look doubtful as she says, "I sometimes wonder about that but he's been gone for a really long time."

Right after that, Midori has a bad feeling in her guts. She gasps and looks out the window. Ichigo looks out as well and there is a tunnel of smoke coming out of the park. Ichigo asks, "Isn't that where the café is?"

Instantly Midori jumps out of bed and Ichigo took a moment before running after her daughter. Midori runs down the stairs and to the phone. She quickly dials the café number and puts the phone to her ear.

"_I'm sorry. The number you are trying to reach is unavailable right-"_

Midori didn't let the answering machine finish. She slams the phone and runs to the door. She forgets to put shoes on as she runs out the door.

"Midori!!"

Midori stops running and looks at the open door to see her mom putting her shoes on and she has the car keys in her hands. "Get in the car!"

"Mom!" she screams. "The café is under attack and you want to take the car?!"

"If the aliens are attacking," Ichigo begins to point out, "then it would be best to take the car so you won't be so tired when you have to fight and put some shoes on!!"

"There are more important things to worry about than what is on my feet!"

"Then just get in the car!! That's final!!"

Midori lets out an irritated sigh as she stomps her way to the car. She gets in the passenger's side as Ichigo gets in the driver's side. She starts the engine and looks at her daughter. "Put your seat belt on."

Midori rolls her eyes and puts her seat belt on. When she looks at her mom, she yells, "What about you?!!" Ichigo looks down and sees that she doesn't have the seat belt on. She lets out an irritated sigh as she puts it on. Then she reverses out and they speed their way to the café. At least they can get there in four wheel drive speed.

But then things started to get weird.

"Midori," Ichigo calls, a bit nervously.

Midori nods. "I noticed."

As they pass the stop sign, they watch it drive by behind them and when they look in front again, there it is again, waiting for them to pass it.

Midori asks, "How many times have we passed that stop sign?"

"Ten times."

"How many times do we usually pass the stop sign?"

"Once."

Both of them had the same thought. Ichigo stops the car before they pass the stop sign and they both took their seat belts off. They get out of the car and look around at their surroundings.

"But how is that possible?" Ichigo wonders, almost talking to herself.

Midori turns to her and yells, "I'm going to try and run."

"Midori!" Ichigo starts, ready to scold her.

But Midori tells her, "Mom, there are more important things to worry about!" Then without another word, she starts running. She runs pass the stop sign and Ichigo stands where she is, watching her until she is out of sight. It didn't take long until she can hear running footsteps behind her. Ichigo turns around and she sees Midori coming up. Midori stops running when she reaches her mom and takes a moment to breathe. She looks around again and asks, "What the heck is going on?!"

While Midori and Ichigo are confused, above them are the three aliens. However, they can't see them. Not because they are high up in the air. Also, they're not the only ones that's confused and trapped. From what Haiiro, Aka, and Kuro can see, all of the mew mews and the ka kas are trapped and they're separated. From their view, it's almost like they are separated in boxes and they're wondering around like trapped rats. Well some of them. Very few of them are still unconscious from the explosion at the café. Keiichiro and Zakuro are together, Kashoka is alone, Kiiro is alone, Pudding and Lettuce are together, Mint and Ryou are together, Ichigo and Midori as together, Morizaki is alone, and Aoi is alone.

Kuro's voice sounds dead as he mumbles, "One by one."

"If they are separated, then they can't help each other," Aka explains. "We have created a labyrinth of alternate dimensions and separated them. Once we send kirema animas inside, they won't be able to help each other and will be destroyed." Kuro didn't say anything, but Haiiro looks upset. Aka can see that. "Do you wish to stop this, Haiiro?"

Haiiro looks at Aka in caution and yells, "Hell no!" She looks away, crossing her arms in front of her chest as she yells, "Let's just go on with it already!"

"No."

Both Aka and Haiiro look at Kuro from his answer and then they gasp in surprise. Kuro's eyes are wide and wild as he begins to chuckle. They know that look. The last time they saw it, it was on his father's face.

Kuro tells them, "I want to play." Right after that, he teleports away. Quickly, both Aka and Haiiro look back at the labyrinth to see which box he will appear in.

Haiiro asks, "Did you see that?"

Aka nods. "Yes, I did."

"What do we do now?" Aka didn't answer right way. Haiiro looks back at Aka and yells, "Aka! Did you hear me?!"

"I heard you," he answers. "I think we should let him be."

"But…"

"What can we do? You saw as well as I that he cracked just like his father. What can we do to stop him now?"

Haiiro looks sad as she slowly answers, "I don't know. Something because I don't want him to be like his father." When both of them look back at the labyrinth, they found Kuro, inside the same section as Aoi.

Aoi is one of the few that are unconscious. When he starts to come too, the first thing he hears is laughing. He couldn't register whose laughter it is, only that someone is laughing. He opens his eyes, his vision hazy at first and it begins to clear up. Soon the rest of his senses begins to come back. He can feel the sores of the explosion and the sores of lying on the hard gravel floor for so long. Still not paying any attention to the laughing, Aoi pushes himself up and looks around. He sees the familiar buildings of Tokyo and he notices that he's on the road. He stands up and stumbles a bit. Then he turns around and he sees Kuro standing not too far from him. His face is low to the ground so he can't see his eyes. When Aoi faces him, the laughing stops.

"Kuro?" Aoi asks, surprise to see him. Kuro didn't say anything in response or move. He just stood there, quiet. His response only made Aoi unease and a bit tensed. "You were the one who attacked us," he accuses. "Where are they?! Where are my parents?! And for all I know you also got Midori involved. Answer me! Where is Midori?!"

Kuro starts to chuckle then. Aoi is confused by this response as Kuro raises his hand. When he opens his palm, his scythe appears. Kuro looks up at Aoi and Aoi's eyes are wide. Kuro looks more than wild now. He looks out of control.

"Time to die!!"

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"This is really starting to irritate the hell out of me!!" Ichigo screams, finally cracking with anger. "How the bloody hell did we end up in loop land?! How the hell do we get out?!"

Midori looks to the side, bored as she thinks, _'And she tells me to watch my language?' _Midori's eyes scan the area again as she continues to sit on the hood of the car. _'But this is really confusing and I'm getting anxious here! Everything looks the same.'_ Then something hits. _'Hold the phone!'_

"Mom!" she calls.

Ichigo turns to her and asks, "What?!"

'_Geeze, calm down,'_ Midori thinks jumping off the hood. She walks up to her mom and says, "Everything must be an illusion."

Ichigo loses her anger as she stares at Midori startled by that theory. "Huh?"

"Well it makes sense to think so," Midori adds in. "We've been walking in straight about ten times already and we passed the same stop sign each time. The word 'illusion' screams out. I bet the others are here too. But how the heck do we find them when we're stuck in one area?"

"The labyrinth," Ichigo mumbles, looking down at the ground in remembrance.

Midori raises a brow at that. "Repeat that."

Ichigo looks back at Midori and explains, "When I was a mew mew, there was a trap an alien set up and we fell for it. He wanted a one-on-one fight with my boyfriend and he had to do that by capturing us and separating us. I kept running, looking for everyone but the tunnel kept going on and on."

Midori was starting to get a very, very bad feeling about this. Fortunately, she was able to ask, "W-who was the alien that set up the labyrinth?" Her voice sounds weak and a bit scared.

Ichigo answers, "Kisshu, Kuro's father." She lets out a sigh and Midori looks like part of her world just collapsed on her. Ichigo opened her mouth to say something but Midori beats her too it.

"How did you find the others?!" she asks, her voice pitchy and fast.

Ichigo answers, "Teleportation, I think. I don't know how it happened, it just did. One moment, I was by myself and the next, I was with my friends again." Midori took that as the idea.

Midori quickly tells her, "We have to get to the others now!" She grasps her mom's hand and tries to think of Morizaki, of being right next to her. Before Ichigo could ask what Midori is doing, she notices that the scenery around her changes.

"Midori?! Aunty Ichigo?!"

Ichigo looks up and she sees Morizaki really surprised to see them. Midori lets go of Ichigo's hand and goes up to her. "Thank goodness you're okay!" Midori breathes out in relief.

Ichigo is blinking her eyes in surprise as Morizaki asks, "Midori, what the heck is going on?"

"I'll explain later," Midori tells her in a quick, excited voice. "But please answer me this! Were any of the adults with you?"

Morizaki takes a moment before answering, "They were. There were the rest of us and our parents were with us too before the café exploded." Midori really started to panic.

"We have to get everyone or Kuro will kill everyone!!"

Ichigo's eyes widen when she hears her daughter mentioning him. _'So that's it,'_ she figures.

Midori grabs Morizaki's hand and pulls her towards Ichigo. She grabs her mom's hand and thinks of Morizaki's parents. While up above, Aka and Haiiro see Midori teleporting her friend and her mom to her friend's parents. Morizaki turns around to her parents when they arrive and she runs to them and hugs them. They hug her back, glad to see that she's okay.

Haiiro raises a brow as she asks, "How the heck was she able to do that?"

Aka stares at Midori a little longer as she teleports the ground to Kiiro. "Leave them be," he orders. Haiiro looks at him a bit surprise by that as Aka then asks, "Did Kuro ever tell you why he's been acting so weird for the past couple of days? Or why he keeps sneaking out somewhere and doesn't come back till morning?"

Haiiro raises a brow as she asks, "Why would he tell me anything?" She crosses her arms in front of her chest and pouts as she adds in, "Especially after I attacked without warning. He trusts you more than he trusts me anyway." Aka didn't say anything after that. His eyes remain on Midori as now she just got Pudding and Lettuce back in their group. She makes sure that everyone is holding hands as she then teleports them to Kashoka.

When they arrive, Midori lets go of everyone and leans on her knees for support. She pants as Ichigo goes closer to her. "Midori, are you alright?"

Midori nods. "I'm fine. Teleporting so much is more tiring than I thought."

Kiiro looks around and she sees Kashoka with his hands covering his face. "Kashoka!!" she calls. His head snaps up and he looks up at the others. Lettuce and Kiiro can see that his eyes are red and his teeth are already sharp. Kiiro runs up to him and tells him, "Calm down, ra ro da! We're here now, ra ro da."

Kashoka's eyes return back to his brown ones and his teeth return back to normal as well. "Kiiro-san," he breathes out, calm now. He was probably ready to give into his animal side if he couldn't find Kiiro or his mom.

Lettuce runs up to the two and holds her son close. "Oh thank god," she mumbles, happy to see that he's okay.

Midori is still panting as she grabs Ichigo's and Morizaki's hand again. "Come on," she says weakly. "We need to get Ryou and Mint now."

Hearing her, Pudding turns to Lettuce, Kashoka, and her daughter and yells, "Guys, hurry! We're leaving!" Lettuce, Kashoka and Kiiro look back at them. Kashoka looks confused but Kiiro grabs his wrist and pulls him to the group. When they arrived, Midori thinks of Ryou and Mint and she teleports everyone to them. When they arrived, Midori begins to collapse.

"Midori!" Ichigo calls, catching her daughter.

The others look at them both as Midori is panting again. She leans on her mom's chest for a little longer before telling her, "Mom, I'm fine."

"Ichigo!!"

Ichigo turns around and both Ryou and Mint run up to her. Ryou asks, "How did all of you get here?!"

She answers, "Midori teleported us." Ryou looks at Midori and her exhausted state.

"She did?" Then Mint cuts in.

"Please tell me, is Aoi with you?!" she asks, her voice speedy and pitchy with excitement and worry.

Ichigo shakes her head, "No, we haven't found him yet."

Midori looks at Mint's frightened face. "We have to find him!"

"Give Midori a rest, Mint!" Ichigo yells. "She's exhausted! She's not used to teleporting so many people in one day."

"Mom, please," Midori pleads. She pushes herself away from Ichigo and tells her, "I'm fine." Her attention goes to Mint. "What's causing you to be so scared?"

Mint answers, "Because when the café exploded, there was one thing that I saw before I blacked out. I saw the alien from earlier surrounded by his own power and he looked like he lost his mind." Midori's eyes widen in fear as Mint adds, "The moment I saw you, I hoped that Aoi is with you because I don't want my son with that alien! He looked like he's ready to shred anything to shreds without a second thought."

Quickly, Midori asks, "The alien you saw! Does he have black hair and sapphire blue eyes?" Ichigo looks at her daughter with a raised brow after she asked that. Wasn't she exhausted and could barely stand a moment ago?

Much to Midori's fear, Mint nods. "His eyes were crazy and they reminded me so much of Deep Blue."

The others heard her and Kiiro asks, "Deep Blue?"

No one got to answer her. Midori looked extremely scared now. She grabs Mint and Ryou's wrist as she yells, "We have to get to Aoi NOW!!!

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX

Aoi falls to the ground and he can no longer get up. Kuro just chuckles where he stands. Aoi is transformed and his sword is at the other side of the small space they both are in. Aoi was able to transform when Kuro attacked him but it appears that Kuro was too much for him. He looks beaten as Kuro looks untouched and he is just chuckling in victory. There's one more thing too. The look in Kuro's eyes seems to be more insane. The thrill of the fight pushed him closer and closer to losing his mind completely. As Aoi is trying to breathe on the hard gravel floor his body aching from the wounds he received, Kuro walks towards him. Aoi looks up but he doesn't shutter away. Kuro didn't look like he cares about him begging for his life right now.

Kuro tells him, "Congratulations, human. You're going to die now. Aren't you happy?"

He didn't answer the question. Aoi wanted an answer for his question. "Kuro! What happened to you?"

Kuro tilts his head to the side and asks, "Don't you know what this expression is?" Before Aoi could answer, even if he wanted too, Kuro stomps on his throat really hard to block his air way. Aoi gags from the impact of his foot and Kuro looks more pleased with Aoi's weakened state. He first points the scythe at the wanted area and that's at his neck. Aoi's eyes fallow the blade as Kuro raises it up and gets ready to slice Aoi's head clean off the body. He's not holding back anymore.

As he was raising it, Midori arrives with everyone else to Aoi but about a few meters away from them. When they arrived and they see Kuro ready to kill Aoi, Midori was beyond dead shock. Mint and Ryou are horrified as everyone else gets really worried. But before anyone could yell or Kuro could even notice them when his scythe was up high, Midori summons her Sais.

Her eyes got skinny and she looks angry as she immediately screams, "GET OFF HIM!!!!" Kuro looks to the side as Aoi is surprise to hear that voice. Midori charges at them and attacks Kuro. He jumps off of Aoi and Midori continues to swing her weapons at him. Kuro doesn't seem to mind. In fact, his face looks more satisfied and more insane. He blocks her attacks and swings but she dodges and tries to stab him.

Mint and Morizaki runs to Aoi's side and helps him up. He's coughing and trying to breathe again. Morizaki asks, "Aoi, are you okay?!"

Aoi looks up at her and nods. His voice sounds horsy when he answers, "I'm fine."

Then Mint hugs his head and pulls him closer to her. She tells him, "My boy, I was so scared!"

He calls softly, "Mother."

Then Ryou comes over and calls, "Aoi!"

Aoi looks up at him and acknowledges, "Father. What's going on?"

"It's just like that time." Everyone turns towards Ichigo and she's staring at how both Midori and Kuro are fighting. She mumbles again, "At the labyrinth, both the Blue Knight and him were fighting just like this." All of the Mew Mews, Ryou, and Keiichiro are shock to hear that. The kids are confused but it doesn't look like it's time to talk story. Their parents then look back at the fight and their kids and the aliens above watch as well.

Midori tries to stab Kuro one more time, but Kuro blocks it. She attacks again with the other sai and they both start pushing against the other. Their strengths seem to be the same so it looks like this fight is a fair fight. Midori asks, anger still raging inside her, "Kuro! What the hell are you doing?!!" Right now, it sounds like she doesn't care whose listening. She just has to ask.

Kuro just laughs at that question. He answers, "I'm just trying to kill you all. It's my duty, right?" Midori looks affected by that.

"Stop it!!" she screams. "Because this is getting out of hand and you're acting like a maniac!!"

"Well whose fault is it?" he asks her. She's surprise to hear that and he takes that chance to push her back a little harder. She stays were she is but he's closer to her. "Who was the one who reject me, Midori? You. It's your fault I'm like this and if you don't like it, then you can go and die with the one you truly love." Midori soon gains back her anger and some of her strength.

"You idiot!!!" she screams, pushing him back more than ever. It even made Kuro surprise that she has that much strength. She crosses her swords and sends a blast at him. He slices it with his scythe and it splits in half. After gaining back the craziness in his eyes, he charges at her again and she's on defense mode.

He swings the scythe at her and she does a back flip. He gets out of her feet's way as she lands gracefully on the ground. He tries again but she just moves to the side and tries to stab him. He dodges and that was how it was mostly. Attack, dodge, attack, dodge, flip, dodge, attack, dodge…

Of course everyone is confused because they have no idea what Midori and Kuro are talking about, but the Mew Mews and the aliens only got half of what they were saying. Midori was gone for about a few days and Kuro kind of went running off to places without telling anyone so by chance, did anything happen during those days? There has to be a reason of how both of them are acting or how Midori is able to relearn how to fly in her human form, blast, teleport, and summon her swords without transforming. Something is going on but only Kuro and Midori know about it.

Kuro tries to slice Midori in half horizontally from above but she jumps out of the way and when it gets close to the ground, she steps on it and then crosses her Sais in front of his neck. Both Aka and Haiiro get worried but stand where they are. Midori tells Kuro again, "Snap out of it, now Kuro!! Because this is getting really ridiculous and really annoying!!"

He chuckles again. "I can't, Midori. It's impossible to stop me now. Now that I know how my father feels when your whore of a mother rejected him." Midori's eyes widen at that and she cringes. Kuro takes that chance to get away from her swords and lift his scythe up. She ends up going up with it but does another back flip to land on the ground away from it. He tells her, "If we lose this time again, then in the next generation we'll be back and maybe we'll try again. How does that sound, you stupid, bastard child runt?!" That was when she snap.

Her eyes are wide and her jaw is tight. She begins to growl as her whole body starts to glow green. Everyone is surprise as the energy continues to grow more and more. Ichigo remembers this too when Kisshu finally pushed the Blue Knight to the edge about breaking Ichigo. Now even Midori's eyes are glowing green and they look really skinny. She charges at Kuro again but she's too fast this time and her attack is unexpected. She hits Kuro's scythe right out of his hands and then she blasts him. The blast was small but still affective. He goes flying backwards and he hits the ground like a rock. His scythe stabs the ground when it lands far from them. Then the scenery around them begins to fade a bit. Everyone notices that but Midori is sticking to one subject at a time. Kuro is on his back and when he was going to sit up to fight again, Midori is suddenly on top of him and her Sais are crossed in front of his neck, piercing the ground. He stays down and they both start panting. To both humans and aliens, that was an interesting fight and what Midori just did was very surprising. Midori looks down at Kuro, her energy calming down and she's panting as sweat is dripping down her face. Kuro is just trying to pant but not so much that his throat gets slice by her swords. He's looking up at her and everything is silent as the scenery finally changes to a different part in the city. The illusion is gone.

Then Kuro's voice breaks the silence. "Go ahead. Kill me." Midori's eyes widen at that as she looks at Kuro's face in shock. No anger or hatred, anything; just pure shock. He smirks at her, still a bit crazy and tells her, "If you don't kill me right now, I will keep coming after you and that boy until you're both dead or I'm dead. It's your choice, Midori. I want to hear you both scream. I want to hear the sound of your bones cracking as you slowly die. I want to see your blood on the ground and I want to hear you beg for mercy for your mistakes. Do you want that to happen or do you want to live like all of the disgusting humans, runt?"

Midori winces at that and she bit her lip in frustration. She grips her Sais and pulls them off the ground. This time his eyes are wide with disbelief while she looks angry. Midori tells him, "Then I will do as you desire!" She raises them both up and strikes them down. The aliens get really scared as Aoi has half a mind to go and stop her.

Ichigo however, screams, "Midori!!"

_Ching_

Everyone is staring at the scene in shock. Kuro has his eyes close when those Sais started to come down but when he doesn't feel anything, he opens one eye to a shocking appearance. He opens them both when he couldn't believe it at first. The Sais only stabbed the ground on both sides of his head, above his ears. Midori is leaning on her Sais and she's crying. Her bangs hide her face and tears are falling down from her chin and on him. She's crying and he doesn't understand it. She soon sits up and shows him her crying, sad eyes.

"If I kill you, then I will stab myself in the heart and twist it so that I may fallow." Those that heard her widen their eyes in surprise as Midori bites her lip from the pain in her chest and her tears continues to fall. She calls him, "Idiot!!" Then she slaps him hard. He looks back at her, his cheek stinging from her hit and her hand red from the slap. She uses her hands to lean on but they both are on both sides of his body. She asks him, "Won't you listen to me for one second, Kuro?! I didn't reject you because I didn't love you!" While everyone gasps from her words, Midori pauses to let that sink into Kuro's brain. She pays no attention to anyone besides Kuro as she continues, "I love you more than you'll ever know! But if you were given a choice between your father and me, you would chose your father because he needs you, right?!" She was basically screaming when she asked him that. He's shocked now and her friends are even more. In fact, Lettuce almost looks like she's crying and Kiiro is gripping Kashoka's shirt from the scene. Both Aoi and Ichigo are dead surprise from that confession as Midori adds one more thing with a softer voice. "I can't leave my mom alone, just like you can't leave your father." Then she starts sobbing in her hands. She tells him over and over, "But I love you, Kuro. Damn it! I love you so much."

The only sound then became her sobs. No one spoke and no one moved closer. Even the aliens are too surprise by her confession to make any comments. Soon Kuro's features soften and all craziness dissolves away. His hand then reaches up for her face. Some got nervous but he only touched her cheek, causing her to lower her hands and look at him. He sits up slightly so that he can kiss her, his hand behind her head to lock her there. She's surprise by the kiss and he soon ends it before she could get the chance to kiss him back. He smiles at her and tells her, "Thank you, but you could have told me a lot sooner."

More tears start to fill up her eyes as she hugs him. She tells him again, "You wouldn't listen, you idiot!"

"I'm sorry." Then he holds her back and she starts sobbing on his shoulders. He's stilling smiling as he rubs her back in a gentle way to calm her down. "Everything's going to be okay now, kohakuchou-chan. You'll see." Midori just nods against his shoulders as he continues to soothe her. "I'm sorry for the things I said and did. I love you, Midori."

"I love you too, you idiot," she answers back. Kuro just holds her tighter.

The aliens above are astounded. Midori was able to so easily calm him down and return him back to his normal self. Midori's friends and comrades are a bit happy for her. Confused, yes but they're happy for her. Aoi looks a bit sad but he smiles anyway for Midori's success. Ichigo on the other hand doesn't hide her depression or her guilt.

She thinks, _'But they can't be together. Not with the same father.'_


	15. They're Back

Ch. 15: They're Back

"Useless."

No one expected to hear that and all three aliens tense up from that voice. Kuro looks up at the sky as Midori looks up at Kuro, wondering what's getting him spooked. The others are looking around to see where that voice is coming from but before anyone could speak, three bolts of lightning come shooting out of the sky; two heading for Haiiro and Aka and one heading for Kuro and Midori.

"Watch out!" Aoi yells. He didn't have to tell Kuro that. Kuro gets a good grip on Midori and teleports away from the bolt but both Haiiro and Aka weren't so lucky.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!" they both scream when those bolts hit them. They were closer to the sky so they didn't have time to move or teleport.

Kiiro looks up and calls out, "Hai-Hai!!"

When Kuro appears, he's near Aoi and he heard Kiiro's cry. He looks up and sees both Haiiro and Aka getting shocked. He gasps in surprise as the attack stops and both Haiiro and Aka fall the ground. He calls, "Haiiro!! Aka!" Before he could do anything, they already landed on the ground. Scared out of her mind, Kiiro runs to Haiiro before Kashoka can stop her and Kuro turns to Aoi. He passes Midori to him and tells him, "Watch her!" Then he teleports away.

"Kuro!" Midori calls, reaching for him but Aoi holds her back.

"Wait!" he says.

Kuro appears by Aka's side as Kiiro is already by Haiiro's. Kiiro begs, "Please, get up, ra ro da! Please, ra ro da!"

Haiiro weakly opens her eyes a bit and asks with a softer tone, "Can you please stop that? It's getting really annoying." She tries to stand up as Kiiro is beyond relieved.

Aka wakes up and Kuro asks him, "You alright?"

"More or less," he answers, getting up.

"Who's that?!" Mint asks, looking up. Her question causes everyone to look up at the sky. What's up in the air is what makes the aliens gasp in absolute terror, or who.

In the sky is another alien but this one is as scary as hell. This alien looks emotionless and his eyes show no sign of compassion at all. They don't even look like they were ever touched with compassion. Usually when aliens are extremely upset or are into a fight, their eyes become really skinny like a cat's but this guy's eyes are already like that. His hair is about four inches longer than shoulder length and it looks almost layered. His attire is a sleeveless brown shirt that's baggy and it's long enough to cover his midriff but not his belly button. His pants are shorts that reach his knees, hang on his hips, and they're baggy too. His shoes looks like pieces of clothe that are tied on by a long black string that crisscross around his ankle. Unlike most aliens, he doesn't have any bandages on his arms or legs. Only clothes and the two ribbons that are connected by the back of the pants are on him. His palm is facing them and he slowly drops it. He starts gliding down to the ground and no one took their eyes off him. If the Mew Mews didn't know any better, they would say that this man looks like he could be related to Deep Blue. But when Ichigo looks closer, she can see that his eyes color is a very familiar golden amber color. Everyone else is terrified by him. Even the kids who don't know Deep Blue are terrified of him. But the most terrified one is Kuro.

He mumbles, "F-father?"

"Huh?!" the Mew Mews asks.

Lettuce asks, "This is…Kisshu-san?"

No one could believe it, even the five kids couldn't believe it that this is Kuro's father. Ichigo was the one who definitely could not believe it; like when she couldn't believe that Masaya was Deep Blue back then.

Even after being recognized, Kisshu didn't look at the formal Mew Mews. His eyes are glued to his son and the other aliens since he attacked them. His eyes are cold and they strike fear deep into the aliens' hearts. Suddenly he mumbles, "Useless." Then he attacks again with a blast from his hands. All three of them react.

Aka and Kuro quickly jump out of the way as Haiiro grabs Kiiro and jumps out of the way. She carries Kiiro to Kashoka and tells him, "Keep her!" Thinking that by chance Kisshu could attack Kiiro after dropping her off, Haiiro teleports away from them so that she can prevent danger.

Kiiro calls, "Hai-Hai!!" But it was too late and Kashoka holds her before she goes running off.

The aliens are flying all over the place, trying to avoid the Mew Mews and the Ka Kas from getting hurt. At every chance Kisshu could get, he tries to blast them. He misses and ends up hitting buildings instead. No one could believe that this is happening. Kisshu is attacking his own comrades and one of them happens to be his son. Something is messed up and Ichigo is just watching, unable to move and unable to speak. Then it starts to go on too long. Both Haiiro and Aka are slowing down. They both got hit before so they have little energy unlike Kuro. When given the chance, Kisshu was finally able to hit them.

Both Haiiro and Aka got hit, together from Kisshu's energy blasts and start falling to the ground again. Kuro calls, "Aka!! Haiiro!!" Kiiro gets scared as both of them hit the ground with dirt and dust flying everywhere. Kisshu lowers his hand and watches the small area. The others watch too, hoping that they both are alright. When the dust clears, they see both Haiiro and Aka alive and are trying to get up. That was a relief until Kisshu raises his arm again. Kuro instantly screams, "Get out of there, now!!"

Both Haiiro and Aka look up after hearing that and they see Kisshu ready to prepare another blast to kill them for real this time. The blast is unleash and its coming straight for them. They both don't have the strength to move.

_Swoosh_

_Block_

That blast is blocked right before Haiiro or Aka got hit. Confusion starts to fill the Ka Kas, Mew Mews, and Kuro's mind as there is nothing but dust and dirty flying around, again. Kisshu is staring at the unexpected block as the dust is starting to clear up now. The people standing in front of Haiiro and Aka are people that make both Lettuce and Pudding shock beyond belief.

It's both Pai and Taruto and they look like an older version of themselves when they were young twenty-one years ago. Their hair is still the same style and their battle clothes are still the same. The only thing that seems to be different is that they do look buffer, mature, and they have so many bandages on their bodies; they almost look like mummies. Kisshu didn't look surprise to see them at all. In fact, his expression barely changed.

Then Haiiro asks, "Daddy?" and her eyes are staring directly at the back of Pai.

Aka's eyes are the widest the Ka Kas had ever seen his eyes become. He mumbles, "Dad?" and he says that to Taruto. Hearing them call them that makes both Lettuce and Pudding really surprise. It made both Pai and Taruto however, very upset.

They turn away from Kisshu and look at their kids. They yell, "What the hell are you two doing here?!!!" The Mew Mews, the Ka Kas, and Kuro are surprise to hear that as now both Haiiro and Aka are a bit scared of them now.

Taruto yells, "First we basically get our asses kicked and when we wake up, you're both gone along with that idiot and his son!!! Then when we get here not only are you two trying to kill the humans, but you're also getting yourself killed by that emotional disordered idiot!!"

"You both are not only dead when we get home, but you both will received a punishment so great, you will work until your very last breathe," Pai scolds. Now both Haiiro and Aka are shaking because now only are their dads mad but also they are very, very scary.

Kuro just thinks, _'I knew this was going to happen and I told them that their fathers are not going to be happy with their decisions.'_

"I hate being ignored."

Taruto, Pai, and Kuro flinch from hearing that by Kisshu and they can sense danger coming for them. Kuro yells, "You four get out of there!!" Pai picks up Haiiro bridal style and flies up to avoid the attack as Taruto grabs Aka's arm and puts it over his shoulder so that he can carry him to safety. They all just barely missed the attack as Kisshu gets ready to prepare another one. Then a small blast hits the ground behind Kisshu, but only as a way to get his attention. He stops and looks up and sees Kuro. Kuro yells, "Father! Up here!!"

Kisshu didn't waste time. He moves his arm to his son's direction and sends a blast to him. Kuro forms another blast and sends it at his father's in defense. The two blasts hit and make an explosion. The explosion causes Kuro to block his face from the smoke and the light as Kisshu disappears for a short moment. When the light fades away, Kuro lowers his arms and looks down to where his father should be, but the dust in the air blocked his view. He wonders, "Where is he?" He got his answer in two second flat.

His father suddenly appears in front of him and his blank eyes are staring right into Kuro's; piercing right through his sapphire ones. It distracts him from the scythe that Kisshu has in his hands. In one swift movement, Kisshu slices Kuro's chest and causes him to fall to the ground at full speed. Everyone is surprise to see that as Kuro crashes into the ground; everyone but Midori. She's horrified.

"KURO!!!!" she screams trying to push Aoi off. "Aoi, let go!!" Finally, she pushes him away from her and she's running.

He calls, "Midori!!" But she's already half way to Kuro.

She slides to his side and looks at his wound. It's deep and it's overflowing with blood. The blood horrifies her. There's so much and it was oozing out of Kuro's body, almost endlessly. She didn't hesitate. She tries to stop the bleeding with her hands pressing hard against the wound and Kuro winces in pain from the pressure. She tells him, "You're going to be okay, you hear me?" He looks up at her, panting and she's starting to cry again. "Don't you dare die on me, okay?"

He couldn't speak but she can clearly see that his lips mouthed her name. Her tears begin to leak out of her eyes after that and she snaps her head up to the sky. She looks up at Kisshu and his expression still hasn't changed. In his hand, he has Kuro's scythe and has drops of his blood still on the blade. The blood and his expression angers Midori. She yells, "What's wrong with you?!! You just hurt your own son! Don't you care at all?!"

Kuro this time used his voice to tell her in a whisper, "Midori…don't!" She looks from Kisshu to back at him as he tells her, "It's not…his fault. Don't…blame him." She lost her anger from the weakness in his voice as she can see that his eyes are begging her to stop.

She does but then they both hear, "Useless." They look up and Kisshu is getting another blast ready for them and this time, it's getting bigger and bigger. It's huge and both Midori and Kuro can't move away from that spot.

Haiiro screams, "You idiots!!! Get out of there!!" But they both couldn't move. They're paralyzed where they are. Seeing that causes Ichigo to finally react.

She runs up half way, passing Pai and Taruto with their kids and she screams, "Kisshu!!!" Kisshu's expression finally changes. His eyes got wide with shock and his blast stops growing. It starts to dissolve into the air and slowly, his head turns to her like he just noticed her. Both Kuro and Midori are surprise that worked. They both look at the side and they see Ichigo. She looks like she's going to cry soon and her hands are up like she's begging. She tries to smile at Kisshu and tells him, "It's me. Ichigo. You remember me, right?"

His eyes are really wide but instead of shock this time. They're wide with fear. She lost her smile and looks like she's trying to reach for him but he teleports away before he could cause any more damage or say anything at all.

When he was gone, they all start to breathe easier. Mint lets out a sigh and says, "Thank goodness, it's over. That was horrifying." Everyone couldn't agree more.

Midori mumbles, "It's over for now, Kuro." She turns to look at him but he looks asleep. Her heart starts to pound as she leans close to his face to listen. She can barely hear his breathe. "Kuro? Kuro!! Kuro!! Hang in there, you hear me?! Kuro!!" But he didn't wake up and his blood is still pouring out. Her screams gets everyone's attention and to Kuro's wounds. Haiiro teleports out of her father's arms and Aka teleports after her. Both Pai and Taruto are a bit surprise by their disappearance but they both saw them with Kuro and Midori when they appear.

Haiiro tells Midori, "Take your hands off him!" She looks at her in surprise of that but Haiiro explains, "I'm going to heal him but I can't have your hands over his wound. If could infect it." Instantly, Midori takes her blood covered hands off and Haiiro hovers her own hands over Kuro's wounds. Her hands begin to glow grey and moments later, Kuro starts to breathe louder and easier.

"Kuro?" Midori asks, relieved to hear him breathing.

Haiiro reports, "'Looks can be deceiving' is the term for this wound. It's nothing too serious. Just a lot of flesh cutting and that's what's causing him to lose a lot of blood. No organ damage."

Midori asks Haiiro, "Can you completely heal him?"

"Not really," she answers. "I'm low on energy so I can only heal the dangerous parts of the wounds so that he won't die. I can also stop the bleeding and right now, I'm helping the blood cells multiply. He'll still be in pain when he wakes up and he needs bandages and rest, but at least he'll survive"

Midori can see Haiiro's healing powers working and she feels so relieved. Kuro is breathing easier now, like he's sleeping. Underneath all of those gallons of blood on his chest, she can see that some parts of the wounds are healing but it might leave a scar. She doesn't care. She reaches for Kuro's hands and grasps it tight to let him know that she's here for him.

Midori tells Haiiro, "Thank you so much."

Haiiro doesn't smile at her or even take her eyes off of Kuro's wounds. She just answers, "I'm only doing this for his sake. This is my last action for the idiot."


	16. Family Truth

Ch. 16: Family Truth

The nearest house to the battle friend is Ichigo's house so everyone is there, bandaging up. Kashoka, thanks to his experience with wounds, is bandaging up Aka as Kiiro is bandaging Haiiro's wounds. Morizaki is bandaging the wounds on Aoi as Midori is sitting right by Kuro's side on the coach. Ichigo offered to take care of his wounds but Midori volunteered to do it. Her eager volunteer caused both Aoi and Ichigo to stare at them. Ichigo stared at the two in guilt and Aoi just watches them, not paying attention to how Morizaki volunteered to wrap his wounds. When she was done, Midori just sat by his side. He's still unconscious and shirtless with a blanket covering him but Midori doesn't mind. Her hand grasps his and she waits desperately for his consciousness to return.

Lettuce and Pudding didn't say a word to Taruto or Pai and the older aliens didn't start up conversation either. They hardly looked at each other. Even at the house, they're totally silent. Ichigo stayed silent as well. She figured that she should wait until everyone is settling down and then ask the questions. However, Ryou beats her too it.

Ryou stares outside into the sky and there are dark clouds circling around the city like a storm ready to hit. He lets out a sigh and asks, "Does anyone want to start explaining what's going on?" He looks back at the ground and all eyes turn to Pai and Taruto, except for Midori. She cannot tear her eyes off of Kuro's resting face.

It appears now's the time to explain. Pai lets out a sigh and admits, "After we came back from earth the second time, we've noticed changes in Kisshu's behavior."

Taruto adds, "He was always up in the clouds. Always in a daze and we had no idea why. He looked like he was guilty about something but he wouldn't say a word. Even his pregnant wife, Keki was clueless about his behavior." The moment he said 'pregnant wife', everybody gasped; especially Ichigo. Then she remembers that on the night she slept with him, he wanted to tell her something.

_Flash back…from Ch.1…_

"_Ichigo. Listen. There is. Something. I need. To tell. You."_

"_Talk. Is not. Important. Right. Now."_

"_But. I need. To tell. You now."_

"_Don't."_

…_end of Flash back_

He was trying to tell her that he was married with a child on the way and she interrupted him with lust. Ichigo's hand rises to her chest and she squeezes the area above her heart. Now she feels extremely guilty.

Taruto turns to Pai and notes, "I think that she ended up finding out what it was because shortly after that, the air around them was less depressing and cheery but guilty. Whatever it was, Kisshu was still upset about it but Keki was willing to live with it."

"But because she didn't blame him for what it was," Pai begins to notes, "he ended up blaming himself." Pai turns his attention back to the curious humans and he explains, "Weeks before Keki gave birth, she got really sick. It must have been a sickness that used to plague our people when we were living underground and only years later did it decided to affect her. She ended up dying while giving birth to Kuro, but Kisshu was with her when she was giving labor. I can still remember her dying words shortly after Kuro was finally born. She told him that no matter who he still loved, she would always love him." Ichigo felt a big wave of guilt. Kisshu's wife was willing to deal with the fact that her husband betrayed her because she loved him so much. What pain did Keki dealt with despite what she told him?

It became Taruto's turn again. "Even though Keiki was sick during her last days of pregnancy, Kuro wasn't born a sickly child. That was a relief. Keki made Kisshu promise to take care of Kuro when she was gone and he kept that promise as best as he could. But without Keki to soothe him, Kisshu was close to being his old self little by little, day in and day out." Okay, that was confusing.

Zakuro asks, "What do you mean 'old self'?"

He answers, "I mean that before we arrived on earth, Kisshu was a crazy fighting machine. He enjoyed the thrill of battle. Yeah, he cared for his people deeply and the people he loved but he watched his parents die right in front of him. The sight of their blood on him and their smashed bodies probably affected his mental state greatly. He became the perfect fighting machine, willing to kill without hesitation or guilt and he was always out for blood when he was fighting. That is probably the reason why Deep Blue picked him for the mission. Keki tried to calm down the fighting beast inside him when we were younger, but she could only do so little. I believe that it was Ichigo who calmed him down the most." Ichigo was blinking in surprise then. The eyes turned to her as Taruto adds, "Because he met you, he wasn't willing to go on a killing spree every waking moment of the mission. Only a few times. You were the witness of those times, right?"

Ichigo looks down at the ground, trying to remember and she does. Probably the first time that Kisshu went crazy in front of her was when Masaya revealed to be the Blue Knight on Valentine's Day. She had to get in front of a blast for him to calm down and the second time must have been when he wanted a one-on-one battle with the Blue Knight at the labyrinth. He left crazy that time and she wasn't really paying attention since her boyfriend did create an explosion that was as dangerous as an atomic bomb.

Seeing that she remembers, Pai adds in some more facts. "But the way that Kisshu was acting this time was different. He was more suicidal." The eyes go back to Pai after he said that. Ichigo snapped her head back up in surprise from hearing that. "He tried his best to keep his promise to Keki. He was a single father that was teaching his son the basics of being a cyniclon and he had the huge duty of taking care of his people. But everything changed when Kuro turned eight." He says the last part with dread, causing everyone to get a bit nervous with what's to be said next.

Taruto goes to his pocket and gets up. He walks up to Ichigo and hands her a couple of pieces of paper folded. She looks at the papers curiously as she accepts it and opens it. Taruto explains, "We found this and judging by the date, it was around that time." Ichigo reads through it and gasps in surprise.

"This is a record of flights coming from Japan to America," she observes. She turns the bag and she notes, "And a list of people who attended Tokyo University." The mews are surprise as Taruto nods.

"Pudding told us how important it was for you to go to America to be with your boyfriend in college and when Kisshu found out that you only went to America once for only a few days, he cracked. He thought he ruined your future after that one night."

'_Kisshu…'_ she mumbles, thinking of him. _'You suffered so much when you had other things to worry about. And here I was blaming you when you already blamed yourself.'_

"Kuro was really young," Pai adds. "He wasn't ready to see his father act in such a way. Kisshu did more than just cut his wrists and tried to stab himself. Kuro saw his father shed his own blood right in front of him, he saw his father screaming and acing fearful, and he saw his father being locked away in a white room. We borrowed that idea from you humans because we didn't know what else to do for his condition." That is true so no one argued about that. "We made a few adjustments so that Kisshu was unable to use his powers while he was in captivity." Midori's grip on Kuro's hand tightens.

Taruto ruffles his hair a bit as he says, "It's amazing on how long he lived after losing so much blood for the past nine years."

'_Kuro,'_ Midori calls in her mind. _'That's why you couldn't disobey your father because you watched him suffer for so many years.'_ Midori lifts his hand to her face and she rubs his hand against the skin on her face.

"The way that Kisshu was then," Pai starts, "he was unpredictable. Some days he would think that we were there to hurt him and he would scream and cower in the corner, or he would attack us, or he would just stay silent and stay where he was."

"And on one day just recently when we were careless," Taruto cuts in, "he attacked us and he went to the extreme. When he would attack us, it would usually be with brute strength and he's stronger than us without our powers. So we would turn the off switch on not letting us use our powers when we enter the room. At that time, he didn't recognize us and he summoned his weapons. We were torn to ribbons and we thought we were going to be massacred. But at the last minute, he realized who we were. That still didn't help. He kept mumbling over and over that he tried to kill us and he went into the corner. The last thing I remember seeing was him rocking himself as he was curled up in a ball. He teleported out of that room right when I fainted from loss of blood."

Kiiro looks at him in wonder and asks, "Is that why you look like a mummy, ra ro da?"

Taruto didn't make a comment, especially when he heard what Kiiro said at the end of her sentence. He looks over to her and answers, "Yeah." He then smiles a bit and mumbles, "You remind me a lot like your mother when she was younger. So funny and yet so sweet." Kiiro is blinking in surprise of that as Pudding stares at Taruto. Aka rolls his eyes.

Then Haiiro rudely cuts in, explaining, "That day, we saw Kuro and Kisshu together. They were talking and Kuro did most of it. We only got a few words but obviously, Kuro was angry. We did hear him promise that he will make his father proud. Minutes later, he came out and offered us a field trip to earth. He told us that we would do the one thing that our dads couldn't do, destroy the humans."

"Kuro did it for his father," Midori mumbles. Everyone looks at her, a bit surprised that she listened to the whole thing. She's remembering what Kuro told her at the forest. "Haiiro did it as a new form of fun and Aka did it to tick his father off."

Haiiro and Aka are blinking in surprise of that. Both Taruto and Pai turn to their kids and they're scary angry. "It worked," they answered. Haiiro flinches in fear but Aka looks a bit insulted.

"You deserved it," he tells to Taruto specifically. "I did it for mom! If it weren't for your feelings towards _that woman_," he points to Pudding, "then she would still be here." Now this is something. Last time anyone saw him so angry, it was when he was strangling Pudding.

Pudding gasps in surprise as Taruto says in defense, "Don't bring your mom into this. She is not involved in this."

"She's the reason why I went against you because you killed her!"

"Your mom drinking flowerwater nectar was her choice, not mine."

Kiiro turns to Haiiro and asks, "Flowerwater nectar?"

"It's like alcohol to us," she explains. "Aka's mom had drinking problems when we were young kids because she knew that Taruto's heart belong to another."

"We could have helped her! She was family, dad!" Aka yells.

Taruto answers, "Yes, she was but when she started throwing objects at us, I knew that she was unsafe for you to be around with. I left because she either needed to fix her problem or never see you again. She chose death. End of discussion!" Aka glares at his dad but he lost the battle. He can't say anymore. But Haiiro can.

Haiiro mumbles, "And what about you, daddy?" Pai looks at her, his eyes screaming for her to shut up. But she doesn't get the hint. "You're the reason why my mommy left. Because you couldn't make her happy." Lettuce looks at her wide eyed before looking back at Pai. He looks dangerous.

"You don't know why she left, Haiiro."

"Oh, I know!" she yells, standing up now. "She left because you couldn't forget that wench!"

Pai stands up and orders, "Watch your language, Haiiro!"

"Bite me!" she dares. "You chased mommy away, you couldn't make her happy, and you're the cause of this whole thing! You're the reason why Kuro is on that coach!"

"Her new family isn't the reason why she never came in contact with us," Pai tells her quietly. Haiiro's eyes widen for a moment before pain is splashed all over her face. Her teeth are clenched together and her fists are in tight balls. Pai tells her calmly and slowly, "Your mom told me to come back to earth so that you can have a mother figure. But I didn't leave because I had to take care of your uncle."

Haiiro's body is shaking with rage. She sits back down and says, "A useless attempt if you ask me! Nothing can calm him down now."

Hearing that, Ichigo looks to the side in guilt. Pai looks at Ichigo and thinks, _'I'm not so sure about that.'_

"Ichigo," he calls. She looks up and he asks, "What happened before we left to go back home?" Ichigo's brows rise up before narrowing down in guilt.

She lets out a sigh and confesses, "After the congratulations party that you three crashed, I had too much to drink and I seduced Kisshu." Midori gasps in shock and instantly drops Kuro's hand. Her heart is pounding and it feels like it's going to burst as her mom continues with her words. "He was trying to tell me something but I didn't listen. Now I know what it was and I feel extremely guilty about it. But it doesn't change the fact that I convinced him to sleep with me, but I never thought that I would go through intercourse." The kids looked at her in confusion.

"Intercourse?" they ask.

Ichigo looks a bit too tired to explain as she tells them, "You will all learn about it one day." The adults are a bit surprise that she said that. But she continues, "Having sex with him was how I got pregnant with Midori." As soon as she said it, Midori's brain went blank. The Ka Kas and the alien kids look at Midori in shock as the Mew Mews don't look shock or surprise. Some of them look guilty. They knew.

Midori had to gulp to try and calm down. Her father is Kisshu, the man who is also the father of the boy she loves. "Does that mean," she asks, trying to be calm, "that K-Kuro is my half brother and I-I can't be with him?"

Ichigo answers, "No, you can't."

But Pai and Taruto answer, "Actually she can."

Midori blinks in surprise of that as she turns to the two older alien males in a small bit of hope. The humans give them a weird look with a slight bit of disgust as Taruto asks, "What?"

Aoi had to ask, "Why did you say that?"

Haiiro leans her cheek against her palm as she answers like she's annoyed, "A long time ago, our kind believed that if siblings were born together then it would mean that they were meant for each other."

"If they are of the opposite sex," Aka corrects. "If there are siblings of a male and a female, then they are meant to be together always. But if there are siblings of the same sex, then it means that they are meant to be really good friends, a bond between the other that is stronger than a bond of lovers. Unlike you humans, the plus side of it all is that the children are not born deformed. It was how we all survived during the days we were close to extinction. Call it tradition but there are a few who don't fallow it any longer."

Kiiro had to say it. "That…is…disgusting…ra ro da…"

Taruto tells her, "It's not that bad. Aka's mother was my cousin."

"Haiiro's mother was my niece who is a year younger than me," Pai adds, "and Kuro's mother was Kisshu's sister."

The mew mews remember that at the graduation party the aliens did admit that the people waiting for them were Kisshu's sister, Taruto's cousin, and Pai's niece. Ichigo also remembers one more thing.

"Hold on!" she yells out. They look at her as she asks, "You said that Kuro's mother, Keki died, right? But I just saw her nearly a month ago, or did Kisshu have another sister?"

Haiiro answers, "That woman was a hologram." Ichigo, Aoi, and Midori look at her in surprise as she explains, "One of the maids heard us talking about going to earth and destroying the humans and she just so happened to have the power to make holograms from a DNA sample. She had Aunty Keki's hair and made a hologram of her to warn you."

"Then you three tied her up and threw her in the closet of a guest room we hardly use," Taruto growls, glaring at the alien kids.

Aka told him, "We needed time to destroy the humans before she told you about our plan." Both Pai and Taruto glare at them for that. Midori ignores that scene. She looks back at Kuro's face and her eyes soften.

Her hand rises to his face and her fingertips gently brush against the skin on his cheek and his chin. She mumbles, "You really are different than the alien boy you had me believe." Some heard her exact words while the others only heard her say something. Then she gets up and leans over to his face. She kisses his forehead and walks away. She heads for the door.

"Midori-san!" Kashoka calls. She stops with her hand on the handle as he asks, "Where are you going?"

Midori takes her hand off the handle and looks at the others over her shoulder. She has a serious face as she tells him, "Everyone here is the cause of Kuro's injury." They're surprised to hear that as she tells them, "Everyone has been keeping secrets from each other, thinking that they can go on with their lives without ever having to deal with the past. Looks like to me that the past comes back and these mistakes are the reason why Kuro was close to death!" Midori lets out a sigh and looks at her mom. She tells her, "The trick is to listen and forgive. Mom, I will admit that I didn't really listen until the last minute about what I really am and why you were always strict with me but I will forgive you because I don't want to lose my one and only mom. Besides, I told you. Father didn't come back because he didn't care. He was just busy and he cares about you, a lot. Always has and always will." Ichigo is speechless. Midori puts her hand back on the handle and turns to the door. "I'm going out for some air because I really need to think things through. This is too much in one day. I'll be careful, don't worry. But if Kuro wakes up before I come back, can you tell him 'thanks for the lessons' for me?" Everyone is confused, that's for sure but as soon as Midori was done, she turns the knob and leaves the house. She closes the door behind her and she has a determined look on her face.

'_Father, I will do everything in my power to bring you back home!'_


	17. Hurting and Healing

**A/N: Taruto: I thought you were working going to work on 'The Kyuuketsuki' chapter?**

**Tsukiko: I was but since you told me that I had to finish this story as well, I remembered that I have a chapter done so might as well let it out. My three day policy is over.**

**Taruto: Whatever. Do you want me to say it?**

**Tsukiko: If you can, that would be very helpful.**

**Taruto: Tsukiko does NOT own TMM or the songs or the movies she uses. She just comes up with the ideas and changes. Thank you for the reviews and please keep them coming. Thank you and please enjoy.**

**Tsukiko: Thank you, everyone!!**

Ch. 17: Hurting and Healing

In the ship, far up in the sky right at the edge of the Earth's atmosphere, Kisshu is there and he's sitting down with his arms hugging his knees close to his body so that he can curl up into a ball. Right next to him is his son's scythe and he's silent. Moments later, Midori appears through a portal and she's in her Ka Ka form. She lands gently on the ground and looks for only her father. She sees him in the corner a second later.

She calls, "Kisshu," since he doesn't know that she's his daughter. But he doesn't answer. Midori gulps before trying to look brave and she yells to him, "Kisshu, I have come to pick you up! You're coming back with me to earth." Her father said nothing. He just sat there for a period of time but she didn't feel discourage in the least. She has to be patient with him, or try.

Finally, his head lifts up about an inch and he asks, "Why?"

Her answer is her declaration. "I've come here to take you with me so that you can see your son! Kuro's going to survive and I'm sure that when he wakes up, he wants to see you."

Kisshu's head lowers back to his knees as he answers, "I don't deserve it. I don't deserve it. I killed him."

Midori looks a bit sadden by her father's words. "Did you not just hear me?" she asks, softly. She tries to be brave as she tells him, "I said he's going to survive, Kisshu! Kuro is alright and he really wants to see you. He's not the type of person to hold a grudge. You should know that. He deeply cares for you."

But he kept repeating, "I don't deserve it. I don't deserve it. I killed him. I killed him." This time, Midori looks hurt by how she's not going through her father. She looks to the side in misery and she thinks about a new approach. She grits her teeth together when she comes to one and grips her fists together. When she looks back at Kisshu, she appears…angry.

She yells him, "Kisshu, if you don't come with me quietly, I will take you with my by force if necessary!"

He didn't say anything or move; at least not from where she can see. Soon a small jellyfish looking thing comes out from under Kisshu's knees and flies far away from him; between him and Midori. The jellyfish also has a small pink crystal with it. Soon, Kisshu mumbles, "Fusion." Then the jellyfish and the jewel fuse together and they glow. Midori is surprised but she knows what's coming next and she summons her Sais for it.

"Fine, then!"

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"Where is she?"

"Shouldn't she be back by now?"

"She's been gone for a while now."

Kuro wakes up hearing that. Things came back to him slow, his sense of hearing, his sense of sight, and his sense of feel. He soon looks to the side of the couch he's on and he sees the formal Mew Mews, the Ka Kas, and the aliens sitting together or standing in the living room of a house he remembers being in. Ichigo is one of those standing and she looks tremendously worried. But besides that, there was one more thing that Kuro notices. Midori isn't there.

Kuro finds his voice and asks, "Where's Midori?" Everyone looks at him, startled from hearing him. Then they're surprise that he's awake and he's trying to lift himself up.

Haiiro gets up from her chair and rushes towards his side. She yells, "Lay back down, idiot! I was only able to heal your wounds half way and you're still weak!" Aka gets up and goes to his friend's side as well.

Kuro's voice sounds deep with pain as he tells them, "I'm fine. These wounds are nothing." Like they're going to believe that when his voice sounds weak and he's wincing in between his words. He asks again after a bit, "Where's Midori?"

Haiiro growls from the fact that he's worried about a half human girl than his own injuries as Aka answers, "We don't know. She left nearly an hour ago and hasn't come back yet."

"An hour?" Kuro asks surprise. "How long have I've been unconscious?"

"Only two hours," Aka answers. Lovely! For all he knows, his father is probably dying from blood loss or is going into extreme of his mental disorder, like he isn't already in extreme level.

"Listen, Romeo," Haiiro calls. He looks at her, surprise by her attitude as she tells him, "We have some good news for you. It's a quick summary of what we were just discussing an hour ago. Apparently, it seems that Kisshu and Ichigo did have a relationship. About eighteen years ago, before you were born, Kisshu's old feelings for her were so over whelming that when she was drunk he willingly had sex with her and apparently went though intercourse, whatever that is." Most of the adults that do were a bit cautious about what Haiiro just said but it seems that Kuro looks confused by that word as well. Were these kids ever given sex education? "But it got her pregnant and guess who that was!"

Kuro's eyes become big when he realizes this. He asks, "Midori is Ichigo's and my father's daughter?"

Aka answers, "According to Ichigo, yes."

Kuro is definitely surprise by this bit of information. Sure he could have figured it out from the memory he saw from his mother's hair strand but he was focusing more on how his mom could soothe his father's troubled heart. He also had a chance when Midori told him about her being half alien but all he wanted to do was comfort the girl he loved. Now hearing this news, his lips curl into a smile and he cheers, "Yes!" He even did that hand thing to say 'alright!' without words. But it caused him to wince in pain from his wounds. "Ow…" he whines, leaning over from the pain.

'_Congratulations, Midori,'_ Haiiro thinks. _'You have an idiot for a soul mate.'_

Haiiro gets serious again as she finishes, "Anyway, soon after she heard that, she left." Kuro looks at her in confusion of that. She answers his unspoken question, "Yes, she knows about our tradition and she's the only one who seems happy about it while the other humans are disgusted."

'_How can we be happy about incest?!'_ Ryou, Aoi, and some of the other humans thought.

"Before she left, she told us that if you woke up before she gets back she wants us to tell you something." Kuro looks up at Ichigo, a bit surprise by what she said and waits for the message. She's a bit too anxious to be thinking what her friends were thinking of. She answers, "'Thanks for the lessons.' Tell me! Does that mean anything at all? Clues of some sort perhaps?"

Kuro looks down and tries to register that message in his mind. He shakes his head and shrugs his shoulders. He answers, "I'm not sure." His brain is not functioning since he just woke up. His mind is a blank

Morizaki stands up and begs, "Please, Kuro! There has to be something. We can't figure it out and the message sounds strictly for you. Please, she's been out too long for just a simple walk." All eyes are back on him and he looks like he's trying to go through his memories of anything she means at all. He tries to remember when they met, their short meetings, and those days in the forest. His eyes widen in realization of what her words mean now.

He jumps off the couch but winces in pain from his sudden action. In Haiiro's mind, she officially believes that Kuro is willing to die tonight. Kuro turns to Aka and asks, "Where's my shirt? We have to go now before she ends up dead!" Aka goes and gets his shirt while the others are starting to worry.

Ichigo asks, "What? What is it?"

Aka passes Kuro's shirt and he ties to put it on as quickly as possible. It still has the cut from when Kisshu slashed him but that doesn't matter now. When it's on, he turns to Ichigo and tells her, "I know that you guys don't know this but after she ran away, I found her and she told me about what happened between her and you. She also told me about that her being part alien." Haiiro, Aka, Pai, and Taruto's eyes widen in shock of realization.

Haiiro asks, "You didn't?!"

Kuro turns to her and tells her, "Unfortunately, I did. I taught Midori how to use her powers properly; flying, attacks, summoning, and teleportation." Now everyone else's eyes are wide.

Lettuce asks in fear, "She went to get Kisshu?!"

"And she's been gone for an hour," Ichigo mumbles, unable to believe. They all start to fear for the worst.

Aoi gets up and turns to his parents. "Mother, father! Stay here with the others. We'll go and get Midori before she hurts herself." Both of his parents nod and Lettuce and Pudding did the same.

"Now hold on!" Kuro yells. Aoi looks up at him as Kuro asks, "Who says you're coming? We can handle my father without you Ka Kas trying to blast him to bits."

"_We_ have done a fine job of kicking your butt for the past couple of weeks in case you've forgotten," Aoi reminds. "Pai and Taruto already admitted that they couldn't handle him. Kisshu nearly killed them and that is probably exactly what he's doing now to Midori, his daughter and the girl you love!" Now Kuro is starting to get irritated.

"My father is not a murderer so stop accusing him like he is!"

"He nearly killed you about two hours ago."

"It's not his fault that it happened!"

"You're going to blame Aunty Ichigo again about that?!"

"Will you both shut it?!" Haiiro asks, screaming. "I swear you both act like a couple of jealous, idiotic children!!" Both Kuro and Aoi stare at her in surprise as she lets out a sigh of anger.

Aka walks up next to the annoyed Haiiro and says, "Kuro, they are her friends and she is your father's daughter. What if she ends up like how you did not too long ago?" Kuro opens his mouth to say something but Aka quickly says, "Instead of arguing with me, we should leave. Take the Ka Kas since we owe them that much."

Kuro and Aoi look at each other after that. They stared at each other for a good moment before looking away with their arms crossed in front of their chests. This is wasting too much time.

Kuro lets out a frustrated sigh before saying, "Fine, they can come. But get in my way and don't expect me to show mercy!"

Aoi tells him, "Don't expect the same from me."

Oh brother…

Then Ichigo gets up and begs, "Wait! Let me come, please!" The kids and the younger aliens look at her for a bit before turning to the older aliens.

Pai answers, "She can come. She can probably help Kisshu the most right now but we must leave." The Ka Kas nodded and they took out their charms.

"Ka Ka Shark Metamorphosis!!"

"Ka Ka Monkey Metamorphosis!!"

"Ka Ka Snake Metamorphosis!!"

"Ka Ka Tiger Metamorphosis!!"

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Midori pants as she watches the remaining bits of rocks from the roof land on the now buried kirema anima. She just fought with a huge monstrous kirema anima and she defeated it by making a part of the roof collapse on it. The rocks then buried it and the pile remains still. Midori makes her Sais disappear as she stands up straighter and controls her breathing. The fight is over. Then she feels something behind her. Quickly she jumps out of the way before Kuro's scythe, wielded by Kisshu slices her in half. She does a few flips in the air and turns her body to face Kisshu when she lands on the ground yards away. Kisshu looks frightened by how Midori was able to so easily dodge his attack and Midori's face shows sympathy for his state.

She yells, "Kisshu, stop this! I don't want to hurt you!"

Kisshu is shaking as he mumbles, "Liar." Midori looks hurt by that as Kisshu holds his head with his hands on both sides. Then he mumbles, "You came to hurt me. Everyone wants to hurt me. Liar, liar, liar, liar…"

"No!" Midori yells, shaking her head. She looks pleading as she begs, "Father, please listen to me!" Right after she said 'father', Kisshu stops shaking and looks up at her in surprise.

For a moment, he looks in control as he asks, "What…did you…say?"

Midori takes a moment before answering, "Kisshu, Ichigo got pregnant after what happened between you two. That's why she didn't go to college because she wanted to spend time caring for me and waiting for you to come back."

Kisshu's eyes are wide as his hands lower from his head. Soon, he was being mental again as he slowly shakes his head. "No…no," he mumbles, taking a step back. "You're lying."

"I'm not!" she yells. "Mom, Kuro, and I are waiting for you to come home." Then she begins to take steps towards him. He tried to stay away from her but he like took one step after she took five. When he took the third step back, she's already a few feet away from him. She stretches out her hand and it opens up to ask for his. "Just take my hand and we'll go back together, okay father?" He stares at her open hand and then back at her face. She's smiling as gentle and kind as she can to show him that everything will be okay. His body begins to relax, until he hears more people arriving.

The Ka Kas, the aliens, and Ichigo arrive and both Midori and Kisshu look up to the side to see them. Midori's eyes widen in surprise of seeing them. "You guys," she mumbles, acknowledging their presence. When Kuro and Ichigo see Kisshu's expression and how Midori was offering her hand to him, they were surprised because they thought that something bad would happen. Unfortunately, someone else didn't see that.

Aoi yells, "Midori, get back before you get hurt! He can't control himself!" Midori turns her attention to him as Kisshu flinches in fear from his words.

"No!" Midori yells. "Stay back!" But it's already too late. Kisshu is holding his head and his eyes are wide with terror. Midori sees him shaking. She turns to him and takes a step closer to him. "Father, please calm down."

"No," he mumbles. Midori is surprise as he continues to echo his words. "No, no, no, no, no. Liar, liar, liar, liar, liar, liar, liar, LIAR!!!"

_Slash_

Everyone gasps in shock. In one moment, Kisshu swung the scythe that was still in his hand at Midori. The next moment, blood shoots out of her body from between her neck and the shoulder. Ichigo and Kuro became horrified as Kisshu jumps away from her, back to the wall and pass the pile of rocks. Midori stands for a moment longer before falling backwards.

Instantly, Kuro screams, "MIDORI!!!!" He didn't waste time running to her. It took a little bit for Haiiro and Aka to fallow him and then the rest of the group. Kuro, being the first is already on his knees by her side and he's calling for her. "Midori! Midori!! Wake up, please!"

Haiiro didn't waste time. She hover her hands over Midori's bleeding wound and they give off a very faint glow of white. When the humans arrived, they all called for her.

"Midori onee-chan!!"

"Midori-san!"

"Midori!"

Ichigo remains silent. When she sees the wound, she gasps in surprise again. The wound…reminds her a lot of the wound Kisshu received from the Blue Knight on Christmas. Haiiro looks up at everyone and snaps, "Back off and give your friend some space to breathe! How is she suppose to stay alive when it's stuffy?!" Unexpected by her snapping and the honest truth in her words, they took a step back and Haiiro pays her attention on the wound again. "Her wound is worst than Kuro's. Some of her muscles have been severed and one of her veins has been cut. She's losing blood fast and she can die from blood loss." Kuro's eyes widen in terror than.

He yells, "Hurry up and heal her then!"

"What do you think I'm trying to do, dumbass?!" she screams, irritated. She focuses back on the wound and she lets out a deep breath. _'Damn! I don't have enough energy to completely heal her.'_ Lucky for her, Aka stared mostly at her expression when she went back to concentrating on the wound and when Kuro looked back at Midori in hope and fear that she'll wake up.

To Haiiro's surprise, Aka places her hands on top of hers and the white glow gets bigger and brighter. Haiiro looks up at him in surprise of his sudden volunteer as he's looking at her hands to concentrate. He asks, "You're low on energy, right?"

She's still surprised but she looks determined moments later and nods. "I'll thank you later," she tells them. Then she goes back to concentrating on healing Midori now that she has extra energy from Aka.

Kuro waits desperately and in fear for any response, even more than her friends and her mom. Then she responds. Her eyes open a little before lifting her head up to see Kuro's face and only his face. She breathes out, "Kuro…"

"Midori," he calls, grateful to hear her voice. He lets out a sigh and he breathes out, "Oh thank god. You're going to be alright, okay? Just stay awake."

"Alright," she answers. Then her hand slowly rises to his face and her fingers gently brush against his skin. "Now, stop crying." She wipes away a tear from his cheek but more keep coming. Seeing her awake and hearing her voice is great relief.

He grasps her hand and holds it to his face. He closes his eyes and more tears keep falling. "I can't stop the tears," he tells her. Her lips curl up into a gentle, happy smile.

"I'm glad you're here," she tells him. "I tried."

"I know you did," he mumbles. "I know."

Hearing that, Ichigo looks from her daughter to up where Kisshu should be. Pass a huge pile of rocks and inches away from the wall, Kisshu stands there with his hands on both sides of his head and the scythe on the ground. "Go away," he mumbles softly to himself. "Go away, go away, go away, go away, go away."

Ichigo couldn't bear to see him like this any longer. She runs around the group and runs towards him. Some of the other humans notice her but only after she passed the big pile. She's still several yards away as she calls, "Kisshu!!" His head snaps up again as now she has captured nearly everyone's attention; Haiiro and Aka still need to concentrate. Again, Ichigo tells him with a softer voice. "It's me. Ichigo. You know me right?"

She takes a step closer to him and he ends up going up against the wall. His eyes are full of fear and his body is shaking violently now. She sees that as she hears him tell her, "Get away. You're going to hurt me. Hurt me, hurt me, hurt me."

"No!" she tells him. He looks at her confused as she tells him slowly. "I'm not going to hurt you. I want to help you. I'm right here and I'm not going anywhere." His body stops shaking. The Ka Kas and the aliens stare in amazement as Kisshu slowly lowers his hands and his eyes still stare at Ichigo. Those once crazy, fearful eyes are now starting to relax and he almost looks like he wants to cry. The smile on Ichigo's face is small and sincere.

But when she takes one more step towards him, a small rock falls from the pile.

_Boom_

Nearly everyone jolts as they see the kirema anima springing himself from the pile of rocks. Ichigo falls on the ground because of the sudden burst. She pushes herself up to look at the kirema anima by turning her body towards it. The first thing the kirema anima sees is her. The kirema anima is in between both Ichigo with Kisshu and the Ka Kas with the other aliens. Because the kirema anima suddenly appeared, the Ka Kas are a bit too shock to move right away. The kirema anima walks closer to Ichigo and she tries to pull herself away while half of her body is still lying on the ground. Now she's terrified.

"Mom!!" Midori screams, seeing the kirema anima raising it's claw.

It begins to thrust it down on her and Ichigo does the only thing she can think of; screaming but screaming a name. "KISSHU!!! HELP ME!!!!"

Kuro's scythe is picked up and a slice appears going across the kirema anima. It stumbles back and screams out in agony as Kisshu glides down to the ground in front of Ichigo. She stares bewildered by how fast it happened. One moment, she thought she was going to die and the next Kisshu just saved her by slicing the kirema anima in half. The Ka Kas and the aliens are shocked too that it happened. As the kirema anima falls on the ground, Ichigo continues to stare at Kisshu with her eyes glued to his back. She didn't notice the tears that began to roll down his face.

Kisshu chuckles a bit and he asks, "Funny isn't it?" Ichigo's eyes are surprise by that as now everyone is staring at him alone. He lowers his face to the ground and mumbles, "After all these years, I still love you, Ichigo." He's talking in complete sentences without repeating the same thing over and over and he sounds normal. Like he's been cured of his mental problem!

Ichigo's surprise relaxes as she pushes herself up and hugs Kisshu from behind, her arms wrapped around him. He's startled by her actions as her hold around him is tight and secure. "I've been waiting for you, Kisshu," she tells him. "Welcome back." His relief and happiness burst out of his eyes. Tears came rolling down his face like a never ending river and he allows them to fall. Only seconds later did he collapse to his knees and Ichigo goes down with him. Soon his head lies against her legs as she's sitting down on the ground. He looks up at her and her hands gently cup his face. She leans closer to his face, looking into his warm golden amber eyes as she gives him a small smile. Then she moves her lips to hover over his. She kisses him, her eyes closed and Kisshu closes his eyes to give kiss her back.

Kuro looks back down at Midori and she's already looking up at him. Joy only appeared on their faces when they see that everything is finally over.


	18. Finally Together

**A/N: Hi, everyone!! I have some news for you! Even though this is the last chapter for the story, I'm thinking about writing some short stories. But most of the ideas are KuroXMidori moments. If anyone has any requests, like a KashokaXKiiro moment, HaiiroXAka, LettuceXPai, PuddingXTaruto, IchigoXKisshu, or any kind of couple, then please tell me and I'll write one up. But here's the thing! The next chapter that will have the short stories will only hold eight ideas. Two ideas are already filled so there are six slots open.**

**Kisshu: Tsukiko does NOT own TMM or the songs or the movies she uses in her stories. She only thinks of the ideas. Thank you all for the wonderful reviews and please keep them coming. She loves them all.**

**Tsukiko: Ki-Ki-Ki-Kisshu?!! What are you doing here?**

**Kisshu: Can't I pop up once in a while? –Tsukiko faints- Ahh!!**

**Taruto: Is she going to faint every time she sees him?**

**Pai: Only because she worships the guy. Most of her stories are of him and the cat mew.**

**Taruto: 'The Kyuuketsuki' is a story with mostly you and the fish mew pairing.**

**Pai: Her name is Lettuce and he's in that too. The vampire who can't rest until he fulfills his promise of bringing his love back to life.**

**Kisshu: Hey! Can you two help me out here?! I think she's having a heart attack!**

Ch. 18: Finally Together

"Midori!!" Ichigo calls from the bottom of the stairs. Midori hurries up and fixes her uniform as her mom yells, "You're going to be late for school! Hurry up!!"

"Coming!!" she screams back. Then she grabs her black school bag and runs out of her room. When she reaches the stairs, she leaps up in the air. Ichigo tenses up when she sees her daughter gliding down the stairs and quickly gets out of the way. Midori gently lands on the ground and runs to the door. She quickly yells, "Sorry, mom!"

Ichigo lets out a sigh and mumbles, "With an alien family, you think I would be used to that by now."

Midori rushes to the front door and there is not only a human looking Kuro but also a normal looking Kisshu. When she appears, both of them turn to her and her whole face brightens up when she sees the males of her family. A silver small loop earring shines in the light from Kuro's left ear. "Sorry, I couldn't find my scarf."

Kuro tells her, "I told you it was in the wash."

"Yeah but when I asked where my underwear was, you said the same thing," she reminds eyeing him. He looks guilty as Kisshu looks a little upset at him.

Then Kisshu lifts his hand up and offers Midori her lunch. She looks at it for a bit before taking it. He tells her, "Here's your lunch. Your mother made sweet omelet again."

Midori asks, "Did she put in extra sugar this time for mine?"

He shrugs his shoulder. "No idea."

"Oh well," she breathes out.

Then Kuro asks, "Why do I have to go to school? It sounds so boring."

"You're going so that we can see each other always like before," Midori tells him. "That and I need a study partner for my math."

"Somehow, that sounds more terrifying than fun."

Then she jumps up and hugs him. He's a bit startled by the hug as she tells him, "Don't be such a spoiled sport. You might like it." Her voice sounds a bit seductive when she says the last part, causing Kuro to let a smirk appear on his face.

Then Kisshu tells them, "Alright, you two! Enough." They both look at him as he says, "You both are going to miss your bus if you start that now. Midori, you can use your powers whenever you want but you can't teleport yourself and Kuro to school. Not so long as she has the earring on." Both of them put on puppy dog eyes and puppy dog ears. Kisshu just tells them, not affected at all, "Nice try. Now get going."

Midori pulls her arms off of Kuro and she goes up to Kisshu. She kisses his cheek and then hugs him, taking him off guard. She tells him, "Bye-bye, daddy. We'll see you both later." Before she could give him time to answer, she jumps off and grabs Kuro's hand. "Let's go!" Then she opens the door and pulls him to the outside. He fallows her and they both go running out of the house and down the street. Kisshu stands where he is, watching them go to their first day of school.

School's finally starting, which means the crazy summer of Tokyo Mew Mew redone is finally over. After what happened between Ichigo and Kisshu, he's been able to control himself mostly because of Ichigo's help. She had been the missing element in returning him to normal; the light of his life. It didn't take long for both of them to start living together. Midori and Kuro, for once, didn't complain about it. It only meant that Midori and Kuro can see each other all the time. But while you're having lovey-dovey moments in the house, it's hard when your parents are living with you as well. Ichigo and Kisshu just want to make sure that both kids don't make the same mistakes they made when they were their age.

Besides that, other things have been happening as well. Like Lettuce, Pudding, Pai, and Taruto speaking again. The surprising part, they didn't hesitate to start dating, much to Aka's and Haiiro's dislike. However, their fathers are finally happy and now both of them can have the mother affection they've been missing, even though it's from the very woman they hate. Not to forget that Kashoka and Kiiro started dating as well. Lettuce and Pudding didn't mind since they have been best friends since the day they were born and they both have something very important in common; the scars of rejection.

Now here is peace between the aliens and the humans. After both Kuro and Midori got their strength back, and they have the scars to prove it, the aliens helped the Ka Kas and the Mew Mews rebuild the café they destroyed. Thanks to the aliens' power, it didn't take too long but it did take longer than needed to finish it. There were a couple of fights here and there, mostly between Aoi and Kuro. _No_ one had no idea why, not! Once the café started up again, the alien kids decided to take part time job with the Ka Kas. Though it was a little hard because Kuro and Aoi would then get into a staring contest and it involved electricity flying in the air. Midori was always there to cool down the fire; either to help Kuro relax or to knock some sense back into both of them if the argument was really ridiculous. Besides that, a work day at the café had never been the same but it was always fun, new, and interesting Then the relationships started and now school is in session.

For being a high school student, Midori has a white buttoned, long sleeve shirt that's buttoned all the way to her neck. She has a red scarf for a collar, a long sleeve blue jacket, and a mini plated skirt of blue, red, and white. On her legs are knee length white socks with two blue rings at the top and she has black shoes on her feet. Since Kuro is in the same grade as her, he has a similar outfit. He has long navy blue dress pants and black tennis shoes on his feet. He has the same long sleeve blue jacket and white buttoned shirt but he has the top three buttons of his white shirt unbuttoned and his jacket is not buttoned at all. The jacket's and the shirt's sleeves are also rolled up to about his elbow. Thanks to the silver earring on his left ear, he appears human and his powers have been canceled out. Pai was able to create something for the kid aliens before school and as long as the aliens or Midori are wearing it or even touching it, they can't use their powers. Like it created a power-canceling barrier on who ever wears it or touches it. Midori looks human so she's fine.

Soon, Ichigo comes up to Kisshu's side. He notices her and looks at her way as she wraps her arms around his arm. "They grow up so fast, huh?" she asks.

He lets out a chuckle. "I only wish that I was with her as she was growing up."

Ichigo looks up at him in confusion. "You already had those moments, with Kuro."

He looks at her with a raised brow. "I wasn't exactly the best dad back then. I wasted too much time." Then Ichigo lets out a sigh.

"Well then would you like to make another one?" she asks so calmly. Something exploded inside Kisshu, but not like a volcano. More like a firecracker. She tells him, "We're still young and I wouldn't mind having another kid around. Soon those two will be off and married anyway, right?"

Kisshu soon smiles sweetly at her. He uses his free hand to lift her face up and he bends down to kiss her. She kissed him back. When they part, he smirks like the Kisshu she knew long ago. "And we tell them to play safe."

"They're too young to get dirty," she tells him. Soon, he kisses her again and her arms slide over to circle his neck. They stepped back from the door and closed it. They locked it moments later.

"Everyone!! Good morning!" Midori calls, seeing her friends at the bus stop. Hearing her, the Ka Kas and the alien kids turn towards Midori and Kuro's way.

Mostly everyone there have similar uniforms to both Kuro and Midori. Morizaki has the same uniform as Midori but she's the only other high school student besides Midori and Kuro. Aka, Aoi, and Haiiro are on their last year of middle school and Kiiro and Kashoka are on their third year of middle school. For the girls, the middle school uniforms are a long sleeve sailor shirt of white, blue, and a red scarf to go with it. There is a choice of either wearing a knee length skirt or a mini skirt but both Haiiro and Kiiro are wearing miniskirts. Their knee length socks are pure white, no rings at the top and they have to wear the black shoes. For guys, they have to wear the whole navy blue long pants and long sleeve suit _(I have no idea what it's called but hopefully you guys know what I'm talking about! It's the school uniform Masaya, ugh, has to wear in the summer time of the school year, just no trimmings)_. Aka and Kashoka are the only two guys that are not having their sleeves rolled up or their buttons unbuttoned. They both look neat but Aka decides to add glasses to his look. Especially since the glasses are Aka's device for appearing human. Haiiro's device is a silver necklace with a fan charm as the center piece. Aoi wears his uniform with the first two buttons unbuttoned and he has his sleeves rolled up to wrist length.

Haiiro is trying to fix her skirt and she grumbles, "Why are these skirts so damn short?!"

Kuro tells her, "In case you've forgotten, our clothing at home is a bit worst."

"Yeah," she answers, looking at him, "But this thing is a human version of sexual harassment! I've been seen disgusting boys staring at me all morning!"

"Well that outfit is very becoming of you."

"Shut up, you idiot!! Should you be really saying stuff like that in front of your girlfriend? What took you both so long anyway?"

Kuro pointed to Midori and told them, "Kohakuchou-chan here didn't believe me when I told her where her scarf was."

Midori asks, "Should I say the same thing I said in the house?"

"No thank you," Kuro answers.

Then Aoi notes, "Well I'm curious." Instantly, Kuro glares at him.

'_It's first thing in the fricken morning and he's already a jerk!'_

Haiiro lets out a sigh. "I don't understand why we have to go to some stupid human school and act human!"

Aka reminds, "Our fathers explained perfectly well that part of our punishment is going to school. Your father already sent the message to everyone at home that we're not returning for another year."

Haiiro starts scratching her hair. "I won't be able to survive on this dreaded planet!"

Kiiro goes up to Haiiro and tells her, "Going to school is not so bad, ra ro da. We'll have lots of fun together, Hai-Hai."

Kashoka notes, "If you think of this as a whole new adventure then things can be more fun, like summer." Sure, battling each other was loads of fun.

Still Haiiro says, "Yeah, well if one of those human punks tries to mess with me, not only are they going to hear about it from my fist and this planet's authorities, they're going to hear about it from our planet's authorities."

Midori looks up at Kuro and asks, "How bad is that compared to ours?"

"Very," was his only answer. Midori couldn't help but feel a bit nervous at the very thought of an alien police coming to earth and trying to blast the accused humans to bits.

Then the bus comes.

Kiiro cheers, "The bus is here, the bus is here, ra ro da!!" Kashoka goes up to her and grasps her hand. She looks up at him and smiles.

When the bus approached the group, they all got on. Midori and Kuro are the first to enter and they see an open seat. They sit there as Kiiro and Kashoka come in next. They see another seat open and walk over past Midori and Kuro to sit there. When Aka, Haiiro, Aoi, and Morizaki got on the bus, there were no more seats. They had to stand so they went all the way in the back of the bus in case they have to pick up more passengers. Once the group was in, the doors closed and the bus begins to move.

As the bus moves, Aoi is watching both Midori and Kuro being friendly with each other. Midori points to a banner at a pet shop of food being fifty percent off and tells Kuro. He nods and smiles at her. She smiles back. Aoi couldn't help but let a sigh escape his lips. Morizaki noticed.

"Aoi-kun," she calls. He looks at her and she asks him, "Are you alright?"

Aoi lets out another sigh and decides to explain. "It's going to take me some time before I can get over my feelings for Midori. I started to like her but she has a new man in her life. Alien more like it and he's her half brother. The thought of them together still freaks me out but Kuro is a good guy. I only hope that he can make her happy."

Morizaki stares at Aoi for a bit, seeing his sadden face. Then she leans close to his arm, one hand leaning against his arm. He's surprise by this as Morizaki is blushing. Since when did she ever blush? "When the time comes when you are over it, I'm free."

Now he really is surprise. Did she…did she just ask him out? Well, when he's ready to start with a new girl but she asked him out. Soon, Aoi smiles at her and she's started by the smile. He grasps the hand on his arm and he tells her, "I'll like that." Morizaki smiled shyly from his answer.

Aoi wasn't the only one watching. Haiiro is watching the two happy couple giggling, holding hands, and smiling to the other like they're the best loving couple in the world. But the more she watches, the more irritated she becomes. Aka can clearly see that.

"If you don't like what you're seeing, then don't watch," he says getting her attention.

"I can't help it," she tells him. "I have to make sure that those two don't start getting in each other's pants until after we return to our planet. But the more I watch this, the more disgusted I feel."

"Well if you don't like it, then don't complain. It's tradition anyway."

"I know that but the very thought of having a family with your sibling or someone of the exact same blood as you is still freaky!"

"Are you only saying this because you're jealous? Didn't you have a crush on Kuro when we were young? That's why you wanted to kill Midori when we were fighting." Right after he said that, Haiiro's face turns red and steam escapes her face. He'll take that as a yes.

But she lets out a sigh to calm down and she replies, "It doesn't matter anymore. The fight is over and Kuro prefers someone of his bloodline. It's my lost and I'm fine with it. I got over it a few weeks ago anyway." Now Aka is confused.

"Oh?"

When Haiiro turns to him, she smiles. That was unexpected but not as much as when she goes up to his face and tip toes. She kisses his cheek and he turns red from the softness of her lips and the warmth they give off. When she pulls away, she tells him, "Take that as my 'thank you' for calming me down when I thought you liked Kiiro. I forgot to do that earlier."

Aka smiles at her and then grasps her hand. She's surprised as he tells her, "No problem." Now Haiiro is red again but her heart is pounding too.

From her seat, Kiiro sees the whole thing. She faces the right way shortly after seeing Haiiro blushing and she's smiling proudly at herself. Kashoka notices. "Kiiro-san? What is it?"

"Nothing really, ra ro da," she answers. "Kiiro just notices that Hai-Hai is still wearing the ribbon Kiiro gave her, ra ro da."

_Shizuoka Academy. Shizuoka Academy. Press button if you wish to stop._

Midori notes, "This is our stop." She stands up and presses the button. When the bus goes to the next stop, it stops and the Ka Kas as well as the aliens come rushing out the bus. As the bus leaves, they turn to the school in front of them.

"Now, Kuro," Midori starts. Kuro looks at her and she tells him, "I want you to be on your best behavior at all times and please try not to destroy everything like what happened to the blender."

"Hey! That blender was possessed," he tries to tell her.

Then Haiiro reminds, "You were the one who forgot to put the lid back on and plug it back in."

One time at the café when there was an order for a smoothie, Kuro tried to make it while Keiichiro went to get more ingredients from the back fridge. The blender wasn't working because it wasn't plugged in. When he tried to suspect it, Haiiro sees the cable unplugged and plugged it back in. Then the blender worked and blasted him the face. He nearly destroyed it along with half the kitchen if Midori, and some extra special help, didn't stop him.

Kuro slightly glares at her and then says, "Besides, the one you should be more worried about is Haiiro. She made some pretty serious threats before we got here." Haiiro glares at him dangerously for that but he doesn't appear scared. Then Midori hits him in the back of the head.

"And you call Aoi a jerk," she mutters crossing her arms in front of her chest.

He whines, "Ow…"

Midori rolls her eyes from his whining but she tip toes and kisses his cheek anyway. He stops whining and looks at her in shock. She smiles and grasps his hand. She turns to everyone else and asks, "Are we ready for our first day of school?!"

Kiiro cheers, "Yes, ra ro da!" Kashoka claps and the others watch, Aka and Haiiro are the only one with raised brows.

_RRRRRIIIIIINNNNNGGGGG_

Midori quickly tells them, "Then lets run!"

Midori and Kuro sprinted into a run with Aoi and Morizaki fallowing them, holding hands. Kiiro and Kashoka are running too but they're not holding hands. Kiiro is hold Haiiro's wrist and is pulling her to the school building. She's partially being drag to the building as Aka is running after them. New family members, new relationships, a new school, and a new life. The best way to start it all off is being late for the first day of school.


End file.
